"But That's Harvesting Babies!!!"

That is exactly what a friend said to me at brunch over Thanksgiving. Now she is very supportive (I think) of what I have done and the conversation began with her asking me how many embryos we got, the process, etc. Another friend at brunch asked me what happens to those embryos that we don’t use. I said well, they are siblings, or can be, but we didn’t have any to freeze so we’ll have to go through this whole process again. I then talked about the paperwork that had to be filled out before we did the cycles, specifically about what happens to extra embryos. I mean, we had to answer questions of what happened if one of us died, if we both died, if we got divorced, etc. I said we put that we would donate everything to research (as was an option), that since they are now doing stem cell research anyway, it was perfect. Then the comment came.

I bring this up, not because I was angry that she said it, though I was ready to throw down if the fourth member of our group didn’t change the subject faster than you can say Christian Fundamentalist. I think for this friend, specifically, she is super conservative and religious. I mean, we definitely bashed Sarah Palin at that brunch (I mean, why not?) and this person was very quiet. She is also a scientist by profession so it’s all very odd to me. The thing is, there ARE people out there who think things completely in a way that I think is not only wrong but backwards. I’ve said this before, that the ignorance and beliefs of others may make me not want to share the conception process of my child with anyone.

My thoughts are these: there is no way to harvest a baby; that seems a propaganda line. You can harvest eggs and fertilize them with sperm, and I CANNOT imagine why anyone would want to do that (unless they were paid) for blatant research purposes. Also, most of these embryos will not become babies even if they are transferred. Our “extras” didn’t make it past four days and of the three we transferred, ONE made it. I’m not saying the science won’t get better, and I hope to God it does, but saying that you are creating a baby to test is not really the case. These are embryos that exist, and can be researched to help countless others to live, live longer and live a better life.

So I don't know exactly where I am going with this, whether it is a political piece on why I think we should continue stem cell research, or whether I don't feel comfortable around people who don't fully support my choices, or another reason to not tell people about the whole IVF thing. Ah, I was just pissed.