Sir, - There have been a number of press reports recently indicating that the guidelines on IVF (in vitro fertilisation) may be changed soon to allow freezing of embryos, and disposal of unused embryos after five years. This could be an important decision with far-reaching consequences for Irish society, and should be discussed widely in advance.
While IVF is considered unacceptable by some religious groups, it is perceived by many infertile couples as an acceptable route to having their own children. The ability to freeze embryos increases the chance of conception, following IVF, by allowing successive implantation at different times (since the embryos remain viable if kept frozen, and can be thawed even after several years). Freezing of embryos should, I believe, be permitted in Ireland, but the issue of what to do with unused frozen embryos needs careful consideration.
If the embryo is a human person from the time the egg is fertilised by the sperm, then the guidelines must respect that individual's rights. It is impossible to establish with absolute certainty whether or not this is so. Many doctors and scientists consider that the early embryo is not human, but this view is not supported by any objective facts. We can say with certainty that a fertilised egg has all of the genetic information and the full potential to develop into a unique human individual. On balance, therefore, it seems likely that we are in fact dealing with a fully human person.
It would be very wrong, in this situation, to make the assumption, for convenience, that early embryos are not human, and to allow their destruction. I know that many people will consider this whole area to be abstruse and irrelevant, but if we are dealing with human persons, it is literally a matter of life and death of many thousands of people.
I believe there is a way forward which could meet the needs of infertile couples without unacceptable disposal of embryos. The guidelines should allow embryo freezing, but subject to written consent in advance from both parents that if they do not wish to have further children, after a fixed period (perhaps seven years), the embryos can be implanted in an adoptive mother, rather than being destroyed.
There are, of course many implications arising from this approach, which might require specific legislation. Issues include access by children to information on their biological parents, inheritance law, criteria for choice of adoptive parents, rights of adoptive versus biological parents etc. These matters can all be dealt with, however, and any problems arising - and certainly in a new technology like this, unforeseen cases will arise - will be small compared with the unacceptable idea of disposal of "unwanted embryos" (i.e., perhaps, "unwanted people") after five years' storage.
Our decisions now on how we handle issues of this sort will have a big effect on the nature and ethos of our society in the future. These decisions are too important to be left only to specialist medical and scientific committees, though such groups are certainly best placed to collate the information and present it for public discussion. Too often public discussions on areas such as this are ill-informed, hysterical and polarised between two extreme viewpoints. If the facts are presented clearly, everyone in society can evaluate the issues involved and through our politicians we can legislate accordingly.
The current situation cannot be allowed to continue. First of all, the absence of the ability to freeze embryos denies some infertile couples access to the full benefits of IVF. Secondly, the current practice in Ireland with regard to extra unused embryos is unacceptable. As was pointed out in an RTE Prime Time programme last year (October 24th) extra embryos are replaced in the mother in a position where they will almost certainly not develop. This is effectively the same as pouring them down the sink, and would appear to involve applying the letter of the law while completely ignoring its spirit and intention. If early embryos are human, this is a very serious matter. There is also a very small, but real, risk of a lifethreatening ectopic pregnancy occurring as a result of this procedure.
Recent constitutional changes in Ireland ensured that the life of an unborn child is respected, but so also and equally is the life of an expectant mother. Here, however, there is no possible threat to a mother's life of health. If we allow the present discarding of unwanted embryos to continue, or if we allow disposal of frozen embryos, we are, as a nation, being hypocritical and showing scant respect for basic human rights.
Professor of Biotechnology, Dublin City University, Dublin 9.