On Surrogacy by Ellen Glazer
There was a piece on today’s Morning Edition (NPR) that began something like this, “Here’s a story of the lengths one couple went to have a baby.” As someone who counsels people struggling to build their families, my ears perked up, curious as to what would follow. The very short version, of what was a […]
Letter to the Times on the Uterine Transplant Article
Dr. Avner Hershlag, Chief of the Center for Human Reproduction of North Shore University Hospital, writes: I strongly object to Dr. Andreas G. Tzakis’s characterization of gestational carriers as ‘a class of people who rent their uterus.’ This is an insult to our patients and the women, often close relatives, who carry a baby for […]
Uterus Transplants in the News: Ethical Issues
Uterus Transplants May Soon Help Some Infertile Women in the U.S. Become Pregnant (New York Times, November 12, 2015) Author Denise Grady quotes Dr. Andreas G. Tzakis, the director of solid organ transplant surgery at the Cleveland Clinic on the ethics of uterine transplant (which he considers superior) versus surrogacy: “You create a class of people […]
“Egg Donors Want Room to Name Their Price”
The class action lawsuit filed in April 2011 will likely go to trial next year, according to a front page article in today’s NY Times. The suit claims that the ASRM’s guidelines capping donor compensation to 10K, although technically not a law, is in effect illegal price fixing. Some agencies have been flouting this cap for […]
Frozen vs Fresh Donor Eggs: JAMA article published study
This study was based only on the self-reported statistics by the participating SART clinics; available on the SART Web site. It is no surprise that frozen are somewhat less successful; these statistics have always been clear, although they are improving. Still, frozen offers a number of advantages over fresh, such as the elimination of cycle […]
Sanford Benardo quoted in New York Post Article
Unborn Child Faces Uncertain Fate in Sherri Shepherd’s Divorce War. http://nypost.com/2014/07/14/unborn-child-faces-uncertain-fate-in-sherri-shepherds-divorce-war/
New York Times, “Coming to US for Baby, and Womb to Carry It” by Tamar Lewin
We have seen a marked increase in straight and gay European, Asian, and South American singles and couples coming to us as intended parents eager to pursue surrogacy. It is important to establish a proper legal foundation for these transnational cases (as well as for those involving donor eggs). The immigration component is critical–we always […]
Many egg-donor recruiters ignore ethical standards
According to a survey published in Fertility and Sterility, about a third of about 100 donor recruitment organizations studied do not adhere to the ASRM’s ethical guidelines. These guidelines include the minimum age of 21 for egg donors, the cap on donor compensation of 10K, and a compensation rate not based on donor characteristics or […]
So Eager for Grandchildren, They’re Paying the Egg-Freezing Clinic
Some observations on The New York Times article today: Firstly, IVF is so expensive that even mature adults with established careers need their parents to pay for it. Secondly, most eggs retrieved and frozen are not viable, that is, they will not become healthy embryos that result in live births. A typical result of a […]
SLATE: Mother Country (on citizenship of babies conceived by IVF outside the US)
Sanford Benardo quoted in Slate article by Sarah Elizabeth Richards.