IVF Clinics in Britain Has Destroyed More Than One Million Extra Embryos

More than 1million embryos created at the IVF clinics in Britain are being destroyed at an incredible rate over the past 14 years, according to official figures.

Recent figures from Department of Health have revealed that around 2,137,924 embryos were created using IVF treatment between 1991 and 2005, but about 1.2 million of those were never used.

Most of the extra embryos created in clinics are destroyed within days of being created, while others were frozen, which are destroyed if they are not used within 10 years.

The amount of the wastage has fuelled concerns from politicians and infertility groups to find ways to avoid creating so many embryos for treatment.

Lord Alton, the independent peer who obtained the figures after tabling a parliamentary question, said embryos were being destroyed “at an incredible rate”.

“IVF has ensured that a number of people have been given a chance to have children. But it is surprising how many embryos are being destroyed in the process,” Times Online quoted the peer, as saying. 

“This is a rather unexpected aspect of IVF. If you could just create an embryo to implant, that would be fine.

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“I think it would be much better if these embryos that are going to be destroyed were used for infertile couples. At least they would have a chance of life. The number of embryos used is expanding year after year,” he added.

Various Infertility groups are encouraging people for donating IVF embryos and want couples who have not succeeded in IVF to have the chance to use embryos from couples who have produced children.

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“Lots of people do have surplus embryos and if people could think about donating embryos it would be wonderful,” said a spokesman from Infertility Network UK, a charity for infertile couples.

Source-ANI
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