Parents’ conceptualization of their frozen embryos complicates the disposition decision

Donation of surplus frozen embryos for stem cell research or fertility treatment—Should medical professionals and healthcare institutions be allowed to exercise undue influence on the informed decision of their former patients?

“…This bias in choice could arise from the fact that most former patients are not psychologically comfortable in begetting unknown biological offspring, which is often visualized as siblings of their legitimate children [3][4][5][6]. In countries where donor anonymity has been abolished and disclosure is possible after children born of donated embryos have attained a certain age i.e.…”

“…18 years old [7,8], the situation can be even more psychologically disturbing for prospective donor couples. On the other hand, former patients who have decided to donate for the treatment of other infertile couples, often cite their perception of frozen embryos as 'living entities,' and their subsequent moral inhibition against the destruction of a potential human life in either stem cell research or embryo disposal [3][4][5][6]. Whatever the case, it is imperative that patients should be allowed to make a free and informed choice without any undue influence or pressure from persons or institutions with conflicting interests and hidden agendas.…”

Tick Tock Goes the Clock: Rethinking Policy and Embryo Storage Limits

“…This research, both Australian and internationally, evidences that many people find the decision-making process particularly difficult and tend to delay making the decision as long as possible (de Lacey 2007;McMahon et al 2000;Nachtigall et al 2005). As Kovacs observes:…”

“…There are multiple trigger points where storage becomes its own journey, separate from the IVF process, such as when a family is complete or once a time limit is up. This is evidenced by international studies on embryo storage which focus on why and how individuals make decisions about their stored embryos (Nachtigall et al 2005;Bankowski et al 2005;Lyerly et al 2008), what decision they make (Lanzendorf et al 2010) and whether they change their minds as to their disposition options throughout their period of treatment (Klock et al 2001). While many of these studies are survey based (or interrogate clinical data) there is growing interest in investigating qualitative dimensions (Lyerly et al 2006;Nachtigall et al 2009).…”

“…In Australia there is a small number of existing studies which address the actual experiences of the decision making process for those individuals who are or have been responsible for stored embryos (de Lacey 2005;Kirkman 2008). Such studies demonstrate that decision making about embryos is a dynamic and emotional process which is often both painful and protracted (de Lacey 2005(de Lacey , 2013Nachtigall et al 2005). This is not surprising as individuals with embryos in storage did not begin the process with that end in mind and are often unprepared for this eventuality.…”