Final Report (all chapters)

cryopreservation a good example of an innovative reproductive procedure, however, is its
unclear but potentially far-reaching societal impact. Oocyte cryopreservation is beginning to
transform itself from a purely therapeutic procedure to an elective one. ART practitioners, while
cautioning that this technology is still very much under development, are already considering the
possibility that egg freezing could also be an attractive solution for professional women trying to
reconcile career goals and the desire for a family. Not surprisingly, some entrepreneurs have
already caught on and started offering egg cryopreservation as a commercial service. 25
It is easy to anticipate at least a few of the consequences that the broad availability of this
reproductive option might have on society. 26 Over time, egg cryopreservation may lead to a
reduction in the number of frozen embryos. While many would welcome this development, its
impact may not be unambiguously positive. For example, the availability of cryopreserved
embryos for research is likely to diminish. The exact number of cryopreserved embryos currently
donated for research is unknown, but it is likely very few. Further reducing this limited pool of
available embryos might undermine the delicate political compromise negotiated in many
industrialized countries on stem cell research, and may also induce scientists to advocate a much
more liberal (and much more controversial) policy for deriving new stem cell lines.
Egg cryopreservation would also stimulate the emergence of a whole new and very lucrative
industry devoted to the retrieval, storage, and sale of human oocytes. This is certainly not a
development that many would welcome. The free trade of oocytes could expose women –
especially young, poor, or uneducated women – to significant risks. But perhaps the most
troubling and the least discussed consequence of making oocyte cryopreservation widely
available is precisely what is currently being touted as one of its main benefits – the woman’s
ability to choose the precise time of procreation. 27 What to well-educated and ambitious women
understandably appears to be a very attractive option could have several less desirable
consequences. For example, the average parental age would likely increase, perhaps dramatically
so. Whether having older parents would be detrimental to a child’s development is unclear, and
we are not suggesting that is necessarily so, but it is certainly a question worth pondering.
Delayed reproduction may also turn into less reproduction or no reproduction at all. A
successful professional career may dissuade many women from considering motherhood at a
later age. Some may argue that if this development makes it easier for women to pursue a
professional career, it should be a reason for celebration, not a possible cause for concern. Others
may disagree. Also worth pondering is whether oocyte cryopreservation might further weaken
25
26
27
For example, on its Web site, the Fertility Institutes in California aggressively promotes their “frozen donor egg
bank.” See http://www.fertility-docs.com/egg_freezing_right.phtml.
For a fuller discussion, see Baum, "Golden Eggs: Towards the Rational Regulation of Oocyte Donation";
Margaret Jane Radin, "Market-Inalienability," Harvard Law Review 100 (1987).
Not everyone agrees. See John A. Robertson, "Technology and Motherhood: Legal and Ethical Issues in Human
Egg Donation," Case Western Reserve Law Review 39 (1989).
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