{"id":5817,"date":"2020-01-27T12:45:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T17:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/?p=5817"},"modified":"2020-01-28T13:35:23","modified_gmt":"2020-01-28T18:35:23","slug":"fertility-research-in-mexico-raises-ethical-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/fertility-research-in-mexico-raises-ethical-concerns","title":{"rendered":"Fertility Research in Mexico Raises Ethical Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last updated on January 28th, 2020 at 01:35 pm<\/p>\n

A new\nresearch paper<\/a> published at Human\nReproduction<\/em> in late December has many alarmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paper summarizes research done on a new method of \u201cflushing\u201d embryos out of women\u2019s uteruses. The experiment was carried out on a group of 81 women in Punta Mita, Mexico, who were compensated $1,400 to have their ovaries hyperstimulated, then receive artificial insemination, and finally to have the embryos flushed out of their wombs using a new technology called \u201cuterine lavage.\u201d A total of 136 embryos were obtained, while those that were somehow left in the womb after lavage were aborted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many media sources have denounced the research, calling it unethical. Over at NPR<\/a>, University of Chicago bioethicist Laurie Zoloth says, \u201cWhat this essentially does is use a woman’s body as a petri dish. . . . And there’s something about that that seems so profoundly disturbing.” At National Review<\/em><\/a>, Wesley J. Smith writes, \u201cThe idea here is to create a new method for the fertility industry, in which women will be paid to mass produce embryos within their bodies \u2014 surrogate conception, let\u2019s call it \u2014 which will then be flushed out in the lab. . . . Big Fertility is fast becoming a moral hazard.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What specifically are the concerns? Well, firstly, the procedure of ovarian hyperstimulation can have some pretty horrible risks<\/a> associated with it. Then, the embryos\u2014living human beings\u2014were flushed out of their bodies for the sake of research, to find out if they were healthier than those produced via ordinary IVF. Some have been implanted already, but most were frozen for use by other couples\u2014hence depriving them of a biological mother and father. Finally, the embryos that weren\u2019t successfully flushed out were surgically or chemically aborted. All of these are areas of significant disagreement among bioethicists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The influence of \u201cbig fertility\u201d to this research becomes clear when one takes a look at the \u201cstudy funding\/competing interests\u201d section of the paper. \u201cPrevivo Genetics, Inc., is the sole sponsor for the Punta Mita, Mexico, clinical study,\u201d the paper says. A look at Previvo\u2019s website<\/a> reveals that they are the ones who hold the patent for \u201cuterine lavage,\u201d which is a relatively new technology aided by a device that Previvo markets as its specialty. \u201cWe believe that fertility treatment is a fundamental choice and we want to empower women and couples with an option in assisted reproductive technology,\u201d the website reads. \u201cThe Previvo Uterine Lavage System is a medical device to collect naturally fertilized embryos without having to undergo general anesthesia and the invasiveness of IVF for otherwise fertile couples.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, this particular method has the potential to be cheaper and easier than ‘traditional’ IVF. Given that the fertility industry is estimated by some to be worth a whopping $15.4 billion by 2023<\/a>, any technology which will appeal to even more couples is bound to be immensely valuable to those with a stake in this industry. At the bottom of the Previvo website is the statement, \u201cThe System is not yet for sale in the US. Currently, the System is Investigational Use Only in the US.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here is where we enter Mexico\u2014where Previvo is all too happy to pay poor Mexican women a pittance to use their bodies, quite literally, as petri dishes, and then to abort any embryos\u2014human beings\u2014that somehow remain. This isn\u2019t the first time that the fertility industry has used the bodies of poor women from Central America for research. In The Birth of the Pill<\/em><\/a>, journalist Jonathan Eig documents how Margaret Sanger, Gregory Pincus, and the team responsible for the creation of the original birth control pill had to go to Puerto Rico to find subjects for their experiments. American women wouldn\u2019t tolerate the pill\u2019s side effects, and were found to be unreliable subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The continued verbiage in the \u201cfunding\/competing interests\u201d\nsection of this paper should give anyone pause. From holding stock in Previvo,\nto being on its board of directors, to consulting for other genomics or\nfertility companies, the paper\u2019s authors clearly have a strong financial stake\nin the outcomes of this research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And just as clearly, they see nothing wrong with exploiting the bodies of poor, minority women for the potential of massive financial gain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many media sources have denounced the research, calling it unethical.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":5818,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"Many media sources have denounced the research, calling it unethical.","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override":[{"single_blog_custom":"","sidebar":"","second_sidebar":"","share_position":"","share_float_style":"","post_date_format":"","post_date_format_custom":"","post_reading_time_wpm":"","zoom_button_out_step":"1","zoom_button_in_step":"1","number_popup_post":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"","single_post_gallery_size":""}],"trending_post_position":"","trending_post_label":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"514"},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[514],"tags":[821],"class_list":["post-5817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","tag-life"],"yoast_head":"\nFertility Research in Mexico Raises Ethical Concerns - 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King is the Managing Editor of IOF's journal, The Natural Family: An International Journal of Research and Policy, the United States\u2019 leading journal of family-policy research. In that capacity, she writes, edits and corresponds with editors and contributors to ensure that each issue provides the most relevant and accurate research and policy analysis available. Nicole holds a B.A. in English as well as M.A.s in English and Political Theory. She has contributed to The Front Porch Republic and Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, among others. 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