I truly want this blog to be somewhere you can turn to for valuable information and a voice of understanding. If you have any questions, topics you would like to see addressed, or issues that are weighing on your mind please leave me a comment and if I can, I will “talk” about it in an upcoming blog. On that note, many of you have probably heard about the proposed bill in Georgia entitled the “Ethical Treatment of Human Embryos Act.” Sen. Ralph Hudgens introduced the legislation that would limit the number of embryos that could be transferred (NOT implanted, they can’t do that and it irks me to no end that it is constantly referred to us such) in an IVF procedure. Specifically, the plan proposes that, in Georgia, doctors could only tranfer two embryos in women under forty years old.
The American Society for Reproductive Medicine recommends the transfer of no more than two embryos for women under 35 years old and no more than five for women over 40, but there are no legal regulations (that I know of). I don’t even pretend to know anything about all the legal mumbo jumbo, nor do I know the specific operating procedures of fertility clinics across the country. What I do know is that my clinic would only allow the tranfer of two embryos when under the age of 35 and would allow three if they were of poor quality. I don’t know what their policy is if over 35 but I have known people who used the same clinic who had three and even four transferred. The thing is, those who had more than two transferred were over the age of 35 and were facing infertility challenges in addition to the age factor that automatically makes it more difficult to conceive, and unfortunately all with the exception of one were unsuccesful. In Georgia, if this bill had passed, they would have had even fewer chances at success because of the illegality of transferring more than two embryos.
I am all for recommendations that should be abided by if at all possible, and maybe even stricter guidelines that would help deter people like Nadya Suleman (mom of Octuplets), but this bill and it’s proposed limitations would seriously hurt some women’s chances to conceive and would probably send women in Georgia seeking fertility treatments to other states. I think this is an issue best decided on a case by case basis with the qualified doctor making decisions that are appropriate for his or her patient. I hope that this bill stagnates and that similar ones do not pop, up because I just see no good coming out of ill-informed, radical thinking politicians making decisions about fertility procedures.
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