http://abcnews.go.com/Health/sean-carolyn-savage-describe-embryo-mix-giving-baby/story?id=12993374
02/25/2011: Embryo Mix-Up: Grieving a Baby Who Didn’t Die
My article is on in vitro fertilization and the potential ethical issues that may arise from the procedure involved. In vitro fertilization is a process to treat infertility, where an egg is fertilized by sperm outside of the body in a laboratory fluid, then cultured and grown before transferred into the uterus of a woman to allow for successful pregnancy. However, this procedure is very expensive, may not necessarily work, and has health risks for the woman carrying out the procedure. In vitro fertilization also has a history of ethical issues surrounded around what happens when the procedure is not carefully monitored; the article deals with a couple successfully carrying and giving birth to a child that was not theirs. The fertility clinic stored the information sheet incorrectly and nobody had double checked to see that the correct embryo was implanted into a patient, Carolyn Savage. Because Ms. Savage was carrying the baby, she had the option of fighting for custody, having an abortion, or giving away a child that she carried as a surrogate.
As a result of the procedure, questions were raised as to how little care and responsibility the clinic took of the patient. The clinic bound the Savage family to a contract so the clinic wouldn’t have to reveal their name, which also raises ethical questions of transparency and whether it is the right of people to know that a scientific procedure has resulted in physical and emotional trauma for Ms. Savage. Another important question to consider is how much the birthed baby should be considered Carolyn Savage’s baby. If not for Ms. Savage’s belief and willingness to give up the baby to the intended family, would it have been moral for Ms. Savage to have an abortion or raise the baby as her own? In vitro fertilization touches many grey lines, and also brings up the concept of surrogate mothers, which was not brought up in the article, as well as the use of sperm and egg banks for same sex couples. If not used for one’s own child, would in vitro fertilization be ethical? In addition, how far is the idea of surrogate mothers from true test tube children and gene manipulation? Engineering ethics is far more personal when dealing with human’s bodies as opposed to machines. Is in vitro fertilization perhaps more controversial than abortion, given that these mix ups can occur? This article brings up both procedural and scientific concerns with the ethics of in vitro fertilization.
My first reaction was complete shock and appreciation that Ms. Savage had the compassion to carry out the birth of another woman’s baby after realizing that the baby was not hers. Besides the physical relation of giving birth to a baby, the article detailed the deep emotional connection Ms. Savage developed for the baby. I chose this article because it sheds light upon the grey area between thinking of humans as completely physical beings, and thinking of humans with emotion and passion. Although the basic idea of this birth could be seen as just borrowing another woman’s body, Ms. Savage struggled greatly with the knowledge that the baby wasn’t hers. I don’t think humans should be seen as biological machines. I believe that the mix up in test tube babies resulting from in vitro fertilization infringe upon a woman’s right to her child. If in vitro fertilization is to continue, regulations need to be extremely stringent, with clear peer review and cross checking, or the emotional and physical risks of the procedure will not warrant its existence.
i agree with your idea that thinking of humans with emotion and passion. Although the basic idea of this birth could be seen as just borrowing another woman’s body. Humans shouldn’t be seen as biological machines. I believe that the mix up in test tube babies resulting from in vitro fertilization infringe upon a woman’s right to her child. I think the main purpose of Vitro Fertilization is to help the couples who have difficulty on in vivo fertilization. some people just misused and misunderstand the main purpose of this technology. yeah, so it is very important to have regulations to be extremely stringent, with clear peer review and cross checking, or the emotional and physical risks of the procedure will not warrant its existence.
I agree with many of the thins you stated in your blog. However a lot of the ethical issues seems to result due to human error. If human error was minimized, would there this process be free of ethical issues? Would the questions that you bring up be irrelevant if human error was minimized?
I also agree with you and bil that humans should not be seen as biological machines and that is the reason why it brings out ethical questions. However, I believe that if human error was minimized, the ethical issues that are evident with this procedure would no longer be an issue and that this procedure will be helpful to many.
I try to look for your email through piazza but I couldn’t find it. Sorry for the late review but here it is (I changed he to you to make it easier for you to read)
I really liked your presentation and blog post and how you was able to directly engage the audience by linking your topic with the previous presenter. Though your presentation and blog was good, as a peer reviewer I will give some of my own insights and questions that will help you further develop your analysis.
What additional issues could be mentioned?
Though you did a good job covering the issue about the unfortunate couple, I believe you should clearly clarify where the ethical issues lie in: in the technology or human error? During the discussion numerous people have pointed out that the human error rather than Vitro Fertilization treatment itself was what was unethical. I also agree with these comments as his presentation and blog post clearly indicate that human error seems to be the more prevalent issue in Vitro Fertilization. It would be better to discuss how Vitro Fertilization is unethical and why it matters.
Did the author identify any particularly thought provoking issues? Why or why not?
I believe that you brought up many though provoking issues in his discussion. For example, you ask “would it have been moral for Ms. Savage to have an abortion or raise the baby as her own?” which I believed was very thought provoking as it relates very closely to issues that arise such as forceful intercourse where many people debate what the moral thing to do is.
However I believe you should also address the issue of problems of the procedure itself. Does it have risks on the mother, can it be misused (like perhaps human breeding possibility?), and others that relates directly to the consequences of the procedure and not just risks from human error.
Did the author clearly explain her/his reactions?
Yes you clearly explain his reactions. You clearly sympathizes with the mother and also respects her decision, using words such as “compassion” and “passion”. You stated that you strongly disagrees with the idea of humans as biological machines using the mother as an example. You clearly sides with the mother and blames the error made during the procedure.
Does the author make accurate comparisons? Why or why not? Can you think of a different parallel article or issue that was not mentioned?
You do not really make much comparison in his discussion. You bring many interesting questions and reactions, but do not make comparison with any other article or issue. I believe that you can use the specific example of this couple to compare it with the ethical viewpoints considering abortion from forceful intercourse cases. I believe that the two situations are very similar and the discussion can be more interesting if we bring similar cases to compare and contrast.
Does the author distinguish her/his perspective from alternative perspectives?
I believe that you should also consider more than one perspective of this article. Though you were able to articulate his positions and perspective you fail to address other perspectives which I believe are important especially in a discussion. He should have considered other perspectives that could have resulted and commented on those as well.
What evidence or examples did you find most convincing? Can you suggest another perspective that the author might have considered?
There really wasn’t much evidence as you looked in a one specific case involving a couple. I believe that your position would have been strengthened if you brought more than one example and gave alternative perspectives (such as Vitro Fertilization gives a second chance to mothers, etc)
Yes, this seems to be an interesting topic. This error should never have happened, but like you said, in vitro fertilization is a way for couples to have children. That is why I do not think this process should be discontinued. In every process there are mistakes, but this is a new technology, and it is a simple error that can be rectified through repeated checking of data. I agree with the idea that people’s bodies are very different from technology and should be treated as such, but technology has the power to allow human bodies to overcome certain health issues. Every technology has ethical issues, and for this situation, I feel as though it’s more of a legal issue regarding the policies of the procedure.