Collegiate Times

Regardless, the fate of most embryos is not to be a candidate for adoption.  Fertility clinics are a boon to couples who want to start a family but are having trouble conceiving. The couple can elect to do in vitro fertilization in which many embryos — anywhere from five to 15 — are implanted in the woman’s uterus. It is hoped that at least one of these eggs will “take,” so to speak and start developing — the CDC reports a 28 percent success rate when a woman uses her own eggs.

Oftentimes, there are many leftover embryos, and they are simply frozen or discarded. Studies at the University of Michigan report many of these embryos are not donated to other couples, but rather discarded — specifically, for every embryo donated to others, more than one-hundred are discarded.

The term for a donated embryo that develops into a fetus and is eventually born is a “Snowflake Child” — the Snowflakes Frozen Embryo Adoption Program reports less than 200 births through this method since it began in 1997.

The University of Michigan also reported there are more than 400,000 embryos frozen, most of which will be discarded — either because of genetic defect or because people simply do not want them. Embryos are going to waste — scientists and pro-life advocates can agree on this. Perhaps choosing to do research with the embryos opposed to discarding them is the lesser of two evils.

Ultimately, ESC research provides promise for the future of health and medicine that is necessary in this time period. The germ theory of disease worked to surface many “magic bullets,” penicillin, for example cured many diseases. However, acute diseases such as syphilis are not responsible for the ill-health of many of America’s patients.

Instead, chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer whose origin cannot be traced to a single bacterium but rather to a multifarious assortment of factors are center stage. Embryonic stem cells are encoded with the genetic information for every cell type unlike the other stem cells. The fact that such a type of cell exists is incredible.

The notion that we have the ability to research and take advantage of said cells is remarkable. To ignore such an opportunity is foolish.  

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A version of this article appeared in the Aug 31 issue of the Collegiate Times.