Image – Shutterstock: Insemination process of IVF
The quest for the ‘perfect’ baby is embedded in the IVF industry. Only those embryos who clear the screening hurdles are transferred to the woman’s uterus. However, a recent study calls into question the accuracy of testing cells using PGT-A (preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy, which looks for an abnormal number of chromosomes). The research has found that PGT-A is resulting in healthy embryos being discarded.
It has always been assumed that testing embryonic cells to identify conditions such as Down’s syndrome, will show which embryos have the condition and which do not. Now scientists have found that a chromosomal abnormality might occur in cells of the inner part of the embryo which go on to become the baby’s body, or an abnormality might occur in the outer layer of the embryo, which forms the placenta. So, a test which does not differentiate between the two parts of the embryo could mean that an abnormality showing up in the outer layer of cells would result in discarding a baby who does not have the condition.
Inherently wrong
As pro-lifers, we need to be very clear when we read news reports on issues such as these. Yes, it’s certainly sad to think about healthy human embryos being discarded. But it is wrong to destroy any embryos, healthy or otherwise.
As Dr Greg Pike, SPUC’s consultant on bioethics, says: ‘Yet again, we are forced into discussing details about practices that are inherently wrong and should not be happening at all.’
IVF itself is a deeply flawed and unethical procedure, which SPUC has always opposed. And screening for genetic abnormalities, whether pre- or post implantation, is a eugenic practice aimed at weeding out babies with disabilities and killing them.
This latest finding about abnormalities occurring in different parts of the embryo points to how relatively little we know about early human development. The researchers hint at the capacity of early embryos to self-correct some errors. While it is only a hint and not proven, it appears as if some chromosomal errors in some cells might co-exist with healthy development. The very early stages of human life are still shrouded in mystery.
Human embryo experiments
The authors of this highly technical paper make numerous suggestions for further research, which will inevitably result in human embryos being used in experiments in ever greater numbers. We have already seen changes which will make this possible.
In 2022, the law in the UK was amended to allow embryos to be stored for up to 55 years, which opens up the possibility for researchers to get extended access to an ongoing supply of human embryos. The UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is complicit by advising people on how to donate their embryos for research. There are also calls to extend the current developmental time limits on the use of human embryos in research. The time limit is currently 14 days, but last December the HFEA called for this to be extended to 28 days.
Exploitation
While embryonic babies perish in huge numbers in the IVF procedure, infertile couples are also being exploited. Some IVF clinics offer PGT-A as an add-on that comes at a cost for their clients, building up their hopes of achieving a successful pregnancy. Yet a 2021 study has already cast doubts about the effectiveness and accuracy of PGT-A. But because IVF clinics are a financial concern, they have an interest in making money, and in the past have done so by offering this test even when its value has been in question. This latest research reduces the value of the test even further.
This latest study also puts a question mark over the health of human embryos created in glass. The authors state, ‘our findings suggest reconsideration of embryo transfer timing, because in vitro culture increases the risk of chromosome segregation errors.’
What this suggests is that the artificiality of the culture conditions increases the risk of chromosomal errors. Perhaps this observation may explain concerns about the long-term health of children born of IVF. However, the authors’ solution is not to stop creating babies in glass dishes, but to transfer the embryos earlier. Unfortunately, this finding will likely be used as another argument for more embryo experimentation to find out whether and how it might work.
This new study shows us that trying to artificially produce a healthy baby is far from straightforward. It also shows us that, without ethical constraints, scientists will continue to probe human embryos with colossal loss of early life. IVF is second best to the real thing. We need to explain this sympathetically to those who are desperate for a baby. The best start in life is in your own mother’s womb.
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