When faced with infertility, Amanda and Jeff Walker had a baby through in vitro fertilisation but were left with extra embryos — and questions. Embryo adoption Tori and Sam Earle “adopted” an embryo frozen 20 years earlier by another couple. Matthew Eppinette and his wife chose to forgo IVF out of ethical concerns and have Read more
In obstetrics, a fetus is an unborn child who is recognisably human and in whom all the major structures and organ systems are already present. An embryo is an unborn child from an earlier stage of development. An embryo becomes a fetus about eight weeks after fertilisation. The ‘abortion drug’ RU486 kills embryos. RU486 or Read more
Catholic and Muslim scholars have pointed out that success in adult stem cell research is being underplayed in favour of more controversial work using cells from embryos because of the “aggressive secularism” or “personal investment” of researchers. Worldwide there have been three clinical trials using embryonic cells, derived from embryos discarded during in vitro fertilisation Read more
Using frozen embryos gets better results for mother and baby in IVF treatments, a study concludes. The study showed that babies which grow from thawed embryos are less likely to be born preterm or underweight and have a lower risk of dying in the days after their birth. Thawed embryos also reduced the risk of bleeding Read more
A recent experiment cloning human embryos for potential stem cell use did little to advance a medical breakthrough and violated human life, Catholic experts said in reaction to the news. ”The attitudes of the scientists involved,” said Fr. Thomas Berg, head of the Westchester Institute for Ethics and the Human Person, show a “profound disrespect for Read more