In the first national count ever done, a shocking 400,000 frozen embryos have been found to exist in the freezers of U.S. fertility clinics, according to the Washington Post (May 8, 2003). The embryos are the “byproduct of a booming fertility industry whose success depends on creating many embryos but using only the best,” the Post said. Although most are currently being saved for couples who may want them, experts say that a large proportion will never be needed.

The study was conducted by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, a Birmingham-based professional group, along with the Rand Corp. of Santa Monica, CA. David Hoffman, a fertility doctor and past president of the Society, observed, “None of us really want to hang on to these embryos in perpetuity.”

The outlook for these tiny humans is further diminished by the storage fees that can reach $1,500 a year for parents, and by clinic concerns about accidental meltdowns and insurance. In addition, some scientists are looking to these embryos as sources of stem cells. Parents of 11,000 embryos have given permission for their embryos to be available for research. The policy announced by President George W. Bush in 1991, however, will prevent their use in federally funded research.

The Post article concludes, “There are no easy answers to the embryo glut.” Indeed. Why wasn’t this considered before they were created?

Douglas Johnson, Legislative Director of the National Right to Life Committee, accurately summed up the situation by noting that it “bespeaks a mind-set that does not regard these as members of the human family.”

Published in VSHL Lifesaver, June 2002