Roughly three quarters of infertility patients favour using leftover embryos for stem cell research and a little more than half think that selling leftover embryos should be allowed, according to results of two surveys published in the current issue of the journal Fertility and Sterility.

Assisted reproductive technology has resulted in the creation and freezing of extra embryos at fertility centres across the country. It was estimated in 2002 that 396,526 embryos were in storage at US fertility clinics, according to previously published research.

"These embryos may be used for future pregnancy attempts, donated to other couples or agencies, given to researchers, or discarded," said Dr Tarun Jain from University of Illinois Medical Center, Chicago, who conducted the surveys with Stacey A. Missmer of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

"Because infertility patients are the gatekeepers of these leftover embryos, it is important to understand their opinions," Jain said.

When asked if using leftover embryos for stem cell research should be allowed, most of those with definitive opinion, 73 per cent (466 out of 636), answered yes.

"Infertility patients, in general, are altruistic, and it makes sense that they would try to advance medicine and help others," Jain noted.

African Americans and Hispanics were less likely to approve of using leftover embryos for stem cell research, compared with Caucasians. Patients who were younger than age 30, Protestant, less wealthy and single were also less likely to support using leftover embryos for stem cell research.

In a related survey, Jain and Missmer asked their infertile patients if they would be willing to sell their extra embryos to other couples - a practice that is considered ethically unacceptable by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

"There is an emerging demand from infertility patients who cannot conceive using their own eggs to purchase left-over, pre-existing embryos because it is a more cost-effective option than using an egg donor," Jain explained.

When asked if selling leftover embryos to other couples should be allowed, 56 per cent of the 588 respondents who stated a definitive opinion answered yes.

"This finding may again reflect the altruistic nature of infertility patients along with perhaps a desire to recoup some of the expenses of treatment," Jain noted.

Hispanics were less likely to approve of selling extra embryos when compared with Caucasians, but all East Indian respondents approved of the practice. Women who had never been pregnant were also less likely to approve.

"Given the potential for a significant increase in the commoditising of spare embryos, medical societies and policy makers may need to pay close attention to this controversial area," Jain said.

Reuters