The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is an amazing technological feat, one that has brought the joy of parenthood to many people who could not otherwise become parents. IVF and the related techniques have revolutionized fertilization, and has driven basic and applied research to new heights.

It has also demanded an examination of the morality and philosophy of the storage of embryos, as well as less profound but still novel events like a newborn having a 30-year-old sister!

Baby born from 30-year-old frozen embryo in Ohio

A baby was born last week in Ohio from an embryo that was frozen for over 30 years, making it the oldest known embryo to result in a successful birth.

Thaddeus Daniel Pierce was born on July 26 in London, Ohio, to Lindsey and Tim Pierce, aged 34 and 35. The embryo from which he was conceived had been cryogenically frozen since May 1994.

“We had a rough birth but we are both doing well now,” said Lindsey to MIT Technology Review. “He is so chill. We are in awe that we have this precious baby!”

“The baby has a 30-year-old sister,” she added, referring to the sibling born from the same batch of embryos three decades ago. At the time the embryos were created, Tim Pierce was just a toddler.

“We thought it was wild,” Lindsey said. “We didn’t know they froze embryos that long ago.”

She continued, “We didn’t go into it thinking we would break any records. We just wanted to have a baby.”

And if some women need a bit of help, it is wonderful that Western Culture has created the scientific framework that provides that assistance. Yet there are ethical considerations that are extraordinarily difficult. For instance, as the technology progressed, the number of viable embryos that could be produced from retrieved eggs has increased. But most people do not have the financial wherewithal to have many babies, thus the stored embryos available for adoption.

And that is the issue! Storing viable embryos after these couples are done having children seems like both an easy decision and a supremely difficult one. It's easy because the embryos are human, and destroying them is roughly akin to abortion. It's difficult, because the parents will grow old and die, leaving the embryos to the vagaries of the storage companies and fluctuating law, and the whims of their heirs.

What to do? I don't know. Technology has outpaced our understanding of the issue! Extrapolating generations of parents who have embryos in storage into the far future yields an impossible decision. Perhaps the embryos will naturally degrade over time, and the question will be less pressing, but with this technology available to most people, the question will not go away.

[Crossposted at CutJibNewsletter and X/Twitter] And the Apple and Spotify feeds for CJN's podcast should be working!

posted by CBD at 11:00 AM

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