Call for disciplinary action against octuplets' fertility program

Flagrant violation of guidelines warrants revocation of membership and demonstrates need for regulation

The assisted reproduction industry’s professional organizations should revoke the membership of the programs responsible for the recent birth of octuplets, according to the Center for Genetics and Society, a public interest group.

“The fertility industry has guidelines limiting the number of embryos to be transferred, and Ms. Suleman’s doctor violated them in a reckless way,” said Marcy Darnovsky, PhD, the Center's associate executive director. “If the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology don’t take action in this case, their guidelines don’t seem to mean much."

Much of the recent attention to the octuplets has focused on their mother, Nadya Suleman. The Center believes that the policy focus should be on the assisted reproduction practitioners. In a television interview yesterday, Suleman revealed that Michael Kamrava of the West Coast IVF Clinic in Beverly Hills was the attending fertility doctor.

“The ASRM and its sister organization SART say, 'Trust us, we’re doctors,'” Darnovsky continued. “But while most fertility practices are responsible, some routinely and openly violate ASRM and SART guidelines in a number of areas. In this respect, the baby business is like Wall Street: relying on self-regulation is an invitation to trouble.”

Unlike most industrialized countries, the United States has little regulatory oversight of the assisted reproduction industry. The ASRM provides voluntary guidelines of conduct for its members. For example, they say that only one embryo should be implanted in women under 35 who have had prior successful pregnancies.

“Effective regulation and oversight of the $3 billion baby business is long overdue,” concluded Darnovsky. “In the meantime, let's see if ASRM and SART will do anything meaningful to control their members.”

The Center for Genetics and Society is a non-profit public affairs and policy advocacy organization working to encourage responsible uses and effective societal governance of human genetic and reproductive biotechnologies.

Contact:
Marcy Darnovsky
1-510-625-0819 x305
mdarnovsky[AT]geneticsandsociety[DOT]org