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
Scientists have created a human embryo without the use of sperm or an egg — a true test-tube baby. Such embryos cannot (yet) develop into full-grown human beings. Even if transplanted into a uterus, the specimen could never attach to the uterine wall. Yet, what we have here is still a (disabled) human embryo. Without Read more
“It is not enough to simply generate a life – it is necessary to provide a loving context because ultimately only love gives life,” says Dr John Kleinsman, director of the New Zealand Catholic Bioethics Centre. ‘And that means the ‘proper place’ for children to be conceived is in a loving marriage between a mother Read more
Three-parent babies could be at greater risk of cancer and premature aging, and would have to be monitored all their lives. These were among the warnings sounded before the United Kingdom’s House of Commons passed a new law permitting their creation. The new regulations enable genetic processes to fight the transmission of mitochondrial diseases, such Read more
Rachel and Stuart Maloney’s small townhouse at Pottsville on the northern NSW coast is a happy home. Wedding pictures hang on the walls and colourful toys are scattered through the living room where toddler Nate plays chasey with his dad. This joyful scene of family life has not come easy. In 2007, Stuart and Rachel Read more
By freezing superfluous embryos, the procedure of in vitro fertilisation is “creating new orphanages”, the Catholic bishops of Malta have said in a pastoral letter. The letter says parents shirk their responsibility if they agree to the freezing of their children, and the future of embryos in the frozen orphanages is “very bleak”. The freezing Read more
The current battles over the fate of thousands of babies conceived via in vitro fertilization would confound even King Solomon. Sensational news reports surrounding the $180,000 price tag for Ukrainian black-market babies shocked the determinedly secular segments of society, and few remain unmoved by the story of the FBI’s round-up of “baby-brokers.” Beyond the initial Read more