When a woman agrees to become a gestational surrogate—meaning she’ll gestate an IVF-created embryo as it grows into a fetus—she and the commissioning parents will typically sign a legally binding contract. The terms vary widely from contract to contract and state to state, but the vast majority will include a clause allowing the parents to make decisions about abortion.
Month: February 2016
For Fertility Treatment, Wounded Veterans Have To Pay The Bill
To have children they’d need help: in vitro fertilization. But IVF is expensive, costing, on average, at least $12,000 per cycle of treatment, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. The Pentagon’s health care system for active-duty troops covers IVF for wounded soldiers like Matt Keil. The Department of Veterans Affairs for veterans doesn’t. By the time the Keils learned about the difference, it was too late.
Gene Editing: The Next Frontier in America’s Abortion Wars
Activists on both sides of the abortion debate now have a common enemy — the use of a powerful new gene editing technology to tinker with the human race. That may seem like an idea from a sci-fi flick, but it’s already here. The gene-editing technique is already used in research and has the potential to modify human DNA with unprecedented ease in the not-too-distant future. British regulators approved limited experiments in human embryos earlier this month.
Should Viagra Prescriptions Require Wife’s Permission?
A proposed bill in Kentucky would require men to consult their wives before obtaining a prescription drug for erectile dysfunction.
Couple Fights to Change Law Preventing IVF Coverage For Vets
A current law that is the product of anti-abortion politics prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from covering the cost of in vitro fertilization for any of the estimated 1,800 veterans who have suffered damage to their reproductive organs.
Continuous Oral Contraceptives Better After Endometriosis Surgery
For patients after surgery for endometriosis, a continuous oral contraceptive schedule seems better than a cyclic schedule, according to a review published in the February issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Oncogene Controls Stem Cells in Early Embryonic Development
After a gestation period of around ten months, fawns are born in early summer – when the weather is warm and food is plentiful for the mother. Six months would actually be enough for the embryo’s development, but then offspring from mating in the later portion of summer would be born in winter. Therefore, nature prolongs the gestation period by a hormone-regulated pause in the development of the early embryos. Many animal species use this process, called diapause, to adjust their reproduction to environmental conditions.
Genetically-Modified Human Embryos Won’t Create Designer Babies
Creating genetically-modified (GM) embryos is controversial. Because editing genes raises ethical concerns over unintended consequences, the Society for Developmental Biology called for a moratorium on manipulating pre-implantation embryos.
Utah Doctors: Air pollution Harms Unborn, Lowers Fertility
Love is in the air this time of year. But for young couples
looking to start a family, there is something else in the air that may hinder
that pursuit. Recent studies have linked exposure to urban air pollution with
stillbirth, preterm birth, birth defects and low birthweight. City smog is also
tied, physicians say, to pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia,
premature membrane rupture and intrauterine growth restriction — a condition
that occurs when the fetus does not receive adequate support from the mother
via the placenta, resulting in extremely low birthweight.
To the Shock of No One, Catholic Church Says Contraception Still Banned Amid Zika Outbreak
While the Zika virus continues to spread through Latin
America and doctors investigate the link between the infection and a birth
defect known as microcephaly, some countries have advised that women put off
getting pregnant for the time being. It can be hard enough to get some of the
most effective types of birth control in places like El Salvador, and now some
women might end up feeling shamed by the Catholic Church for wanting to prevent
pregnancy.