US couples support embryo donation for ES cell research

A survey of 1,020 infertile American couples with stored frozen embryos found that 49 per cent would prefer to donate some or all of their surplus embryos to general medical research, while a 60 per cent majority would prefer to donate their embryos specifically to embryonic stem cell (ES cell) research if these donation alternatives were made available, rather than the current options to discard them or donate them to other infertile couples for adoption - an alternative that received only 22 per cent support. The results of the joint survey from John Hopkins and Duke University were released online by the journal Science last Wednesday and will be published in the upcoming 6 July edition. Co-author Anne Lyerly, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University, admitted she was 'surprised' by the 'quite dramatic findings'.

The results are in tune with the American majority but fly in the face of President Bush's second veto, given that same Wednesday, which blocked legislation his Congress had approved to remove his 2001 ban and allow federal funding for human cell research on new cell lines created after that date. If allowed, the potential numbers of donated embryos available for medical research indicated by the survey is ten times than previously estimated. If only 25 per cent of the estimated 400,000 frozen embryos currently thought to be stored in the US were donated then they could possibly yield over 2,000 new ES lines. It is common scientific opinion that the original 22 lines existing in 2001 when Bush implemented the ban are now inadequate for research and human therapeutic use; thus stagnating federally supported ES cell research.

The other co-author, Dr Ruth Faden, director of the John Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, observed that the voice of those actually making the 'difficult moral decision' about what to do with these embryos was 'absent from national debate' and this survey sought to find out their opinion. 'My hope is that the perspectives of the infertility patients who have legal authority and moral responsibility for the embryos will be represented in the national debate', Lyerly adds. Dr. David Grainger, president of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, feels the findings highlight patient autonomy issues, arguing that patients painstakingly consider these decisions and should have their wishes respected.

The twelve page questionnaire targeted couples at nine fertility clinics who currently are deciding the fate of 3,900 to 5,900 cryopreserved embryos. Surplus embryos are created during assisted reproduction methods like IVF in attempts to create healthy embryos and allow for repeat attempts often required to achieve successful pregnancies.