Pushing the biotech frontier out further

“‘Embryo bank’: new hope or too far?”

Too far. Way.

In an era when infertile couples often look to test tubes or surrogate mothers to create children, the notion of egg or sperm donors is hardly novel.

Thus begins the article in the Christian Science Monitor.

Yet a San Antonio woman’s idea to bring the two together – creating complete embryos ready to be implanted into the womb – has drawn a raft of criticism, with bioethicists debating whether this is the commodification of children or just another – perhaps more effective – way to help people become parents.

The “embryo bank” at the Abraham Center of Life isn’t a storage bank so much as an intermediary that creates embryos from anonymous donors of both sperm and egg, for a waiting list of interested parents.

Sounds chilling, an “embryo bank” as an “intermediary that creates embryos from anonymous donors…for a waiting list…” at a center named after the Father of the world’s major religions.

Jennalee Ryan, the director of the Abraham Center of Life, recruits qualified egg and sperm donors – all must have a clean medical history – and she looks for sperm donors with graduate degrees and egg donors with some college education, according to her website and recent news reports.

Ms. Ryan turned down repeated interview requests for this article.

What is she afraid of answering? The obvious question of ‘designer babies’? The ethics and morality of this intermediary bank for selective creation of human life?

The article calls Ryan the “broker” who matches egg and sperm donations for clients.

But critics have questioned the necessity of making new embryos when there are already many thousands left over from in vitro efforts – many of which can be “adopted.” They also say the service seems to cater to clients who want the maximum control over their children’s genes. Clients review information about the donors’ physical traits and temperaments, their family and educational histories, and in some cases look at photos.

“This raises a real question of commodification – of creating a new human life as a commodity,” says Robert George, a Princeton professor and member of the President’s Council on Bioethics. “Any time you manufacture products, they have to be subjected to quality controls…. If we let the reproductive technology evolution erode the understanding of our fundamental worth and dignity, and begin to think of children as products that are better or worse [based on certain traits], the consequences for civilization really are dire.”