Study finds couples open to embryo donation

NEW YORK, May 3 (Reuters) Many couples who undergo infertility treatment might donate their extra embryos to stem cell research, if they fully understand all their options, a new study suggests.

Spanish researchers found that of 97 couples who underwent treatment at two fertility clinics, 49 per cent chose to donate their spare frozen embryos for stem cell research.

Early embryos ''left over'' from infertility treatment can be used to harvest stem cells, primitive master cells that can potentially develop into any type of body tissue. Scientists hope to one day use stem cells to replace the damaged cells seen in a variety of diseases, such as Parkinson's disease and type 1 diabetes.

The research is highly controversial, however, since harvesting the stem cells destroys the embryo.

Study co-author Dr. Pablo Menendez told Reuters Health that it was not in itself surprising that half of the couples in the current study chose to donate their extra embryos for research.

The key point from the study, he said, is that all of the couples made their decisions after having their options carefully explained to them in interviews -- a thoroughness that is not common practice.

The findings suggest that, if they fully understand stem cell research, ''many couples are very willing to donate their surplus embryos...even in a traditionally Catholic country like Spain,'' said Menendez, who directs the Spanish Stem Cell Bank in Granada.

In Spain, couples have four choices about what to do with their leftover frozen embryos: save them for future pregnancy attempts; donate them to other infertile couples; donate them for stem cell research; or discard them.

The current study, in a journal called Cell Stem Cell, involved couples who had undergone in vitro fertilization therapy more than 3 years earlier, and were storing their frozen embryos at the fertility clinic that performed the procedure.

Each couple had an extensive discussion with an embryologist and a legal advisor to help them decide whether to keep storing their embryos or take one of their other three options.

Afterward, 49 percent chose to donate to stem cell research, while 44 percent opted to keep their embryos in storage.

Only 7 percent donated to other couples, and just one couple chose to dispose of their embryos.

According to Menendez, all couples should have their options fully explained to them, face-to-face, before choosing what to do with their surplus embryos. That includes explanations of what a stem cell is, and what the goals of stem cell research are, he said.

''We hope this model we have proposed can be implemented not only in Spain, but in many other countries like us,'' Menendez said.

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