Fertility Advocates Endorse Stem Cell Research

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Fertility Advocates Endorse Stem Cell Research

Dateline: August 28, 2000

Responding to the recent issuance of the United

States NIH

Guidelines on the use of stem cells in research,

the American

Infertility Association has made official their

support for the

guidelines and use of stem cells in general.

The American Infertility Association, a fertility

patient advocacy

group based in New York, encourages couples who

currently have

leftover embryos from IVF (in-vitro

fertilization) cycles to " consider

making these embryos available in a way that will

bring better health

to everyone and perhaps even help more infertile

couples to be able

to have a baby in the years ahead. "

Typically, using the IVF procedure to conceive

results in creating

more embryos than are necessary for transferring

back into the

woman's uterus. Until now, patients' options for

dealing with the

unused embryos have been to either donate them to

other infertile

couples through a process called " embryo

adoption " , pay ongoing

fees for keeping the embryos stored at a lab, or

disposing of them.

Stem cell research, controversial due to both its

relation to cloning

technology and its moral/ethical dilemmas, is

seen as the next great

step forward in regards to the treatment of a

number of serious

health conditions and diseases.

Pamela Madsen, executive director of the AIA, and

others state that

the new guidelines offer fertility patients

another altruistic option for

their unused embryos.

PRNewswire story

For more information, see the NIH Response &

Guidelines

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