Higher Risks for Artificially Conceived Infants
By Miriam Zoll, <i>Biopolitical Times</i> guest contributor
| 03. 12. 2014
Data about the risks involved in high-tech assisted reproduction have until recently been scarce. The industry naturally touts success rates and downplays failures, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has largely been restricted to sharing only self-reported data from clinics with the public. But this is changing—and families intending to use these technologies should be aware of the full implications of the statistics that are available.
Last month, for instance, the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies announced that a record number of babies were born – 61,740 – as a result of the 165,172 in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles performed at 379 of its member clinics in 2012.1
On the surface, this announcement may be perceived as an endorsement for the success of reproductive medical services that have, undoubtedly, helped many couples over the last 35 years to bear the children they might otherwise not have been able to. As we celebrate the births of these babies, however, it is also important to recognize that the vast majority of IVF cycles continue to fail, and that...
Related Articles
By Sarojini Nadimpally and Gargi Mishra, The Wire | 12.15.2024
In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) as assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been in vogue for quite a few decades now. While IVF has been hailed as a significant scientific advancement, with many advantages, here are some limitations which bear keeping in mind...
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
It is hard to make predictions, especially about the future, as Yogi Berra, Niels Bohr, and other luminaries have remarked. But there are already signs that the incoming Trump administration may have some difficulty establishing consistent policies about controversial issues concerning human reproduction.
On the one hand, consider “the conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration.”
The notorious Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership seeks to delete terms such as “reproductive rights” from “every federal...
By Susan Dominus, The New York Times | 11.30.2024
In the days after Daphna Cardinale delivered her second child, she experienced a rare sense of calm and wonder. The feeling was a relief after so much worrying: She and her husband, Alexander, had tried for three years to conceive...
