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Asked by lizziebee to Emma, James, Jayne, Kara, Sharon on 16 Mar 2011 in Categories: Your Research.
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Sharon Sneddon answered on 15 Mar 2011:
Hi Lizziebee,
When patients that are having trouble getting pregnant come in for IVF treatment, sometimes there are eggs and embryos that can’t be used for their treatment and would be thrown away. If this happens, the patients are asked if they would consent to the eggs and embryos to be used for research.
It’s entirely up to the patients to decide if they want us to use them, they dont need to say yes and it does not affect their treatment if they say yes or no.They don’t sell them to us,they don’t get any money. I don’t think it is ethical to pay people, as it can maybe persuade poorer people to give us embryos that they might not really want to.
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Emma King answered on 16 Mar 2011:
Hi Lizziebee – the majority of embryos that are used in stem cell research are surplus embryos from IVF. So if a couple can’t conceive their egg and sperm are sometimes fertilised in a lab and then placed back into the womb to give them a better chance of having a baby. Some of these embryos are not very good and are not placed back into the womb because they would never grow, and in the UK we also have a limit on the amount of embryos that can be put back. Any that are spare couples can opt to store to use again or they can be destroyed – they also have the option to donate them to research if they want. It is entirely up to the couple and they do not get paid or anything for doing it because we want people to donate for the right reasons.
Hope that helps.
Emma -
Jayne Charnock answered on 16 Mar 2011:
Embryonic stem cells are derived from excess embryos created for couples undergoing IVF. People donate them- it would be immoral to buy them from people, and we wouldnt want to encourage the creation of embryos just to get stem cells from them
Comments
lizziebee commented on :
thank you eveyone for answering 🙂 i think i understand now!!