The thought of 500 human embryos created in vitro, stored in “the cold,” left behind and then discarded along with a clinic’s hazardous waste breaks my heart. Five hundred lives that could have been. Five hundred persons in waiting, who could have done any number of great things–but for a womb to grow in.
Thomas Pool, who is quoted in the story, claims, “these are not babies, they are not children. They’re not even life forms that would survive without artificial intervention.” They would not have been created in the first place without artificial intervention. If we are to create life artificially, we ought to protect life artificially. Our responsibility for what we create should have no expiration date.
I propose that couples who wish to create embryos in vitro be legally required to sign away their rights to any embryos that go into storage and are abandoned for, say, five years. At that point, the embryos should be made available for adoption.
We need an expiration date for abandoned embryos–but an expiration date leading to adoption and life, not to a hazardous waste dump.
Incidentally my wife and I learned five years ago that we could not conceive. We considered in-vitro fertilization and decided against it. We then adopted two baby boys. They needed a home. We needed them. We couldn’t be happier.
