Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND: The moral status of the human embryo is particularly controversial in the United States, where one debate has centered on embryos created in excess at in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics. Little has been known about the disposal of these embryos. METHODS: We mailed anonymous, self-administered questionnaires to directors of 341 American IVF clinics. RESULTS: 217 of 341 clinics (64 percent) responded. Nearly all (97 percent) were willing to create and cryopreserve extra embryos. Fewer, but still a majority (59 percent), were explicitly willing to avoid creating extras. When embryos did remain in excess, clinics offered various options: continual cryopreservation for a charge (96 percent) or for no charge (4 percent), donation for reproductive use by other couples (76 percent), disposal prior to (60 percent) or following (54 percent) cryopreservation, and donation for research (60 percent) or embryologist training (19 percent). Qualifications varied widely among those personnel responsible for securing couples' consent for disposal and for conducting disposal itself. Some clinics performed a religious or quasi-religious disposal ceremony. Some clinics required a couple's participation in disposal; some allowed but did not require it; some others discouraged or disallowed it. CONCLUSIONS: The disposal of human embryos created in excess at American IVF clinics varies in ways suggesting both moral sensitivity and ethical divergence.

OBJECTIVE: Posthumous sperm procurement involves harvesting gametes from a recently deceased man for cryopreservation and future use in ART. This paper discusses the practical and ethical role of posthumous sperm procurement in medical practice and society and submits possible solutions, including the establishment of formal policies and protocols. DESIGN: English-language literature review and bioethical discussion. RESULT(S): In the United States, an increase in requests and protocols has been documented. International requests and regulation are variable. CONCLUSION(S): Posthumous sperm procurement is fraught with ethical dilemmas, including informed consent, privacy, inheritance, and child welfare. To establish appropriate medical practice, it is important to consider all stakeholders in the decision-making process. We believe that an acceptable and ethical resolution can be obtained only through the collaborative input of all involved parties. We have looked to U.S. and international sources for guidance in current practice and to gain insight into the formulation of future policies.

Much attention has been focused in recent years on the ethical acceptability of physicians receiving gifts from drug companies. Professional guidelines recognize industry gifts as a conflict of interest and establish thresholds prohibiting the exchange of large gifts while expressly allowing for the exchange of small gifts such as pens, note pads, and coffee. Considerable evidence from the social sciences suggests that gifts of negligible value can influence the behavior of the recipient in ways the recipient does not always realize. Policies and guidelines that rely on arbitrary value limits for gift-giving or receipt should be reevaluated.