Would-Be Parents Can Lose Out On Having Children As A Result Of The Fertility Industry Being Poorly Regulated
JOURNALISM'S
Naomi Cahn, University of Virginia and Dena Sharp, University of California, Hastings
When embryologist Joseph Conaghan arrived at work at San Francisco’s Pacific Fertility Center on March 4, 2018, nothing seemed awry. He did routine inspections of the facility’s cryogenic tanks, which store frozen embryos and eggs for clients who hope to someday have biological children.
But what he found was not routine; it was an emergency. Almost all of the liquid nitrogen inside Tank 4 had drained out. Conaghan and his staff tried to save 80 metal boxes of frozen reproductive material, but it was too late. The contents had warmed, damaging or destroying 1,500 eggs and 2,500 embryos.
Some belonged to a couple who traveled cross-country from their farm in Ohio, hoping to build their fam...