Ethics Committee Defines Embryo Donation
The ASRM Ethics Committee has just issued a new report regarding how embryo donation should be defined. The report cites that "... use of the term 'adoption' regarding embryos is 'inaccurate and misleading'..."
December 2, 2009 - The Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) today issued a new report “Defining Embryo Donation.” In the report, the committee states that use of the term “adoption” regarding embryos is “inaccurate and misleading” and cites concerns that attempts to extend an adoption model to embryos places an inappropriate burden on patients seeking an embryo donation.
The report recognizes that both donation of embryos and adoptions of existing children are important options to allow infertile patients to build their families. However, the two are not equivalent. Adoption of existing children has occurred throughout human history, and now refers to a specific legal process to change or establish parentage of children. Donation of embryos is a medical intervention that only became possible with the advent of in vitro fertilization 25 years ago. But it is a medical, not a legal, procedure. Embryo donation is performed and regulated in the same manner as other medical procedures using donated cells, tissues, or organs and should not be treated as a legal adoption.
“Embryo donation is an important therapeutic option for infertile patients. Home visits, judicial review and other adoption procedures are not necessary and not appropriate for a patient whose care entails what is most accurately characterized medically as a tissue donation,”said Robert Brzyski, MD, PhD, Chair of the Ethics Committee.
“We have long had guidelines on embryo donation that address the clinical aspects of the process. This report simply clarifies that embryo donation is in fact a clinical process and should be treated as such,” stated William Gibbons., MD, President of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.
The Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, American Society for Reproductive Medicine: defining embryo donation, Fertility and Sterility, Vol.92, No. 6, December 2009.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Reproductive Science Center of New England was recently featured in an article on this topic appearing in the Boston Globe Magazine.
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