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Monday November 11, 2002



     

UK FROZEN EMBRYO COUNT REVEALS MASS DEATHS FROM IN VITRO

LONDON, November 11, 2002 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In response to a parliamentary question, a British government minister revealed the latest figures on the numbers of human embryos created, frozen, destroyed, implanted, experimented upon since the passage of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990.

"The latest available figures from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) are that 925,747 embryos have been created through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment, 423,153 have been transferred for implantation, 225,627 stored for the patient's own use, 448 stored for the treatment of others and 53,497 given for research: 294,584 embryos remained unused during the course of IVF treatment cycles, including those considered non-viable for implantation. Figures are not collected routinely on the number of embryos allowed to perish because the statutory storage period had ended or because a patient had requested it," reported the Minister.

The UK Society for the Protection of Unborn Children reports that pro-lifers have estimated that the so-called wastage rate in IVF is even higher than the government admits because many embryos die very soon after fertilisation while still in the petri dish. Only about 4% of IVF embryos survive until birth, and SPUC has estimated that, in fact, around 1,200,000 embryos have died in the course of IVF procedures in Britain since 1991.

See the Minister's response in the UK government Hansard:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199900/ldhansrd/p...

(with files from SPUC UK)

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