Marla Jablonski Reilin Weber Mikala Merkling

1. Marla Jablonski Reilin Weber MikalaMerkling

2. Infertility • Failure to conceive within one year of unprotected sex • Affects 10-15% of all US couples • Many causes of infertility both in the male and female • Devastating to couples who want a child

3. Types of Treatments • Artificial Reproductive Technologies (ART) -General term for the techniques designed to help infertile couples conceive and sustain a pregnancy. • ART procedures sometimes involve the use of donor eggs (eggs from another woman), donor sperm, or previously frozen embryos. • Intracytoplasmic sperm injection • Zygote intrafallopian transfer • Gamete intrafallopian transfer • In- vitro fertilization

4. In Vitro Fertilization • IVF involves retrieving mature eggs from a woman, fertilizing them with a man's sperm –the partner or a donor- in a dish in a laboratory, and implanting the embryos in the uterus three to five days after fertilization. • Most effective form of ART. * 30 to 35% for women under age 35 * 25% for women ages 35 to 37 * 15 to 20% for women ages 38 to 40 * 6 to 10% for women ages over 40 (American Pregnancy Association)

5. First baby • Since the first in-vitro born baby, Louise Brown, in 1973, IVF has produced 2 million babies worldwide, including more than 1 percent of all U.S. newborns since 2000.(Stassen Berger, 69)

6. Positives of In-Vitro • Boosts the odds of getting pregnant • ART children develop just as well as other children • Couples can finally have the family they wanted after years of trying

7. Social and Ethical Problems • Many children waiting to be adopted • Multiple pregnancy • Moral status of the embryo • Religions oppose it • Using donor sperm or ovum

8. Problem #1.Adoption

9. Use Adoption Instead • For in-vitro: • For many adults, in- vitro is a welcome miracle in which they can have a child of their own. • Against in-vitro: • Because more than enough babies are born worldwide, IVF may be unnecessary for the human species. • There are kids waiting to be adopted all over the world • Couples should choose adoption before being allowed to use in-vitro

10. Problem #2.In- Vitro Increases Multiples

11. Multiple Pregnancy -Against In Vitro • There is an increased risk of having multiples when using in-vitro • Increases risks of complication during pregnancy • Octomom • Abort weaker fetuses to give strong ones a chance?

12. Multiple pregnancy -For In-Vitro • While many people think in-vitro is bad because it results in pregnancies of twins, triplets, and more, many people think that is a good side of it. • Waited so long for a child and now have the joy of more than one • “2 for 1” baby deal

13. Problem #3.Moral Status of Embryo

14. Moral Status of Embryo • One of the consequences of IVF is that a supply of eggs surplus to requirements is usually obtained as a result of superovulation from the medicines used. (Mephan, 117) • Can produce up to 15 eggs for one round of in vitro • Embryos that have formed that are not implanted into the uterus pose a large ethical problem • The unused embryos can be used for research, donated, destroyed or frozen for future use • People both agree and largely disagree with this

15. Embryo Use -Against In-Vitro • Many people believe that life begins at conception. • View it as an abortion to destroy the unused embryos or use them for experimental purposes • Killing something you purposely made

16. Embryo Use -For In- Vitro • Embryo loss in assisted reproduction is less frequent than in natural pregnancy, in which more than half of all fertilized eggs either fail to implant or are otherwise lost. (Farris Naff, 77) • Embryos are as different from people as acorns are from oak trees. • Embryo wouldn’t become anything without the mother

17. Problem #4.Religions Oppose It

18. Religious Views • Many religions, including the Catholic church are against in- vitro fertilization. • IVF bypasses the act of conjugal union of marriage and violates the dignity of procreation • Not a product of God, product of technology • Pope Benedict is very clear about the church’s view

19. Problem #5.Use of a Donor

20. Using a Donor -Against In-Vitro • IVF in which the sperm or ovum of a third person is used, is also condemned by many people and the church • For most Christians AID (artificial insemination by donor) is like adultery, not physically, but by the introduction of a third party into the sacred bond of the marriage • Anonymity • Sperm donors can have over 100 kids • Sperm siblings

21. Using a Donor -For In- Vitro • Some claim that using another man's sperm to impregnate a woman is not morally wrong because there is no physical act of adultery involved • No intent of adultery • If the husband agrees, then how could the impregnation be adulterous? • They raise the baby, not the donor

22. What do you think? -Summary of Issues • For In-Vitro • Have a baby of your own • Have multiples • Embryo is not human • Ignore religious view • Donors are okay • Against In-Vitro • Use adoption • Multiples are bad • Believe it is abortion • Church opposes it • Donors are adulterous

23. Works Cited • Farris Naff, Clay. Reproductive Technologies: Opposing Viewpoints. 1st ed. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven Press, 2007. • "In Vitro Fertilization: IVF." American Pregnancy Association. American Pregnancy Association, 2011. Web. 12 Nov 2011. <http://www.americanpregnancy.org/infertility/ivf.html>. • Mephan, Ben. Bioethics: An Introduction to the Biosciences. 1st ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. • Stassen Berger, Kathleen. The Developing Person Through the Lifespan. 8th ed. New York: Worth Publishers, 2011. Print.