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The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Nearly 400,000 human embryos frozen in clinics Most intended for pregnancy tries; 11,000 could be donated for research By MARILYNN MARCHIONE [log in to unmask] Last Updated: May 7, 2003 About 400,000 human embryos are in frozen storage at infertility clinics around the United States - far more than previously believed, the first inventory ever taken of them has found. Experts said the landmark study could shape debate over public policy on stem cell research and the field of reproductive medicine, which is largely self-regulated. The vast majority of stored embryos are intended for future pregnancy attempts by the couples who made them, but some are mired in indecision and disputes between partners. About 9,000 were potentially available to other couples wanting children, and another 9,000 were destined to be destroyed, the study found. Only 11,000 might be donated to research. Intentions for about 14,000 others couldn't be determined, sometimes because patients died, were getting divorced, or moved and had abandoned the embryos. One example of the quandary surrounding some embryos is a batch frozen in 1993 for a Milwaukee-area couple who had two children from successful infertility treatment and now can't agree on whether to use the leftovers to have more. "I'm encouraging them to make a decision on what to do," said their doctor, Grace Janik. "We try to have people move things along and use them so we don't have this stockpile problem." The study was based on a survey done by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, whose members include 90% of the nation's infertility specialists, and RAND, a health research group. Results were published in the May issue of the journal Fertility and Sterility and released today. "We are pleased to be able to bring some real data to bear on this topic. Too often, policy discussions about reproductive medicine seem to be driven by emotion rather than fact," said David Hoffman, a Florida infertility doctor who led the study. Researchers and observers were stunned to learn there were nearly 400,000 frozen embryos as of April 11, 2002, when the survey was conducted. "That's much higher than anybody was guessing," said David Stevens, a doctor who heads the 17,000-member Christian Medical Association. In vitro fertilization, in which eggs and sperm are mixed in a lab dish, typically yields 10 to 20 embryos. Usually, the healthiest- looking two to six embryos, depending on the woman's age, are chosen for the first pregnancy attempt and the rest are frozen for future tries. The new survey covered the 430 U.S. clinics that belong to the reproductive society and do IVF procedures. The 340 clinics that responded said they had 391,661 embryos. Facilities that store embryos for clinics reported another 4,865, making the total 396,526. Researchers studied patients' intentions for freezing their embryos and found that 88% want to use them to try to have children at a later date. Less than 3%, or 9,225 embryos, were available for donation to other couples. "It's not common. There are many, many more patients who want embryos than there are embryos for donation," said Gloria Halverson, an infertility specialist with the Medical College of Wisconsin IVF program at Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital. But one of her patients who had triplets donated her several remaining frozen embryos to another local couple trying to have a family, Halverson said. The number of embryos available for research was a key point in the debate over embryonic stem cells, primitive cells that scientists want to use to treat and study diseases. Donated embryos were used to create the nine stem cell lines available today for federally funded studies, but scientists say that's far too few for meaningful research. Still, using the most conservative estimates of yield, those could produce as many as 275 new embryonic stem cell lines, the study concluded. R. Alta Charo, a University of Wisconsin-Madison bioethicist, said the study shows that embryos are being created because infertile people want to have children. "These clinics are not out there producing embryos to seed the research sector. I think the whole concern about embryo farming has now been proven to be misplaced," she said. For a copy of the American Infertility Association's patient guide on freezing embryos, visit http://www.americaninfertility.org SOURCE: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel http://www.jsonline.com/alive/news/may03/139196.asp * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn