Sir, - Padraig O Morain (August 7th) hit the nail on the head when he wrote that it is "easier to discuss the London abortion than face the issues here". Dr Orla Halpenny, in a letter on the same date, points out that we have no legislation regarding in vitro fertilisation here. I have asked in the Seanad for such legislation, but the reply I got makes me believe this is another issue we will not address, despite the fact that IVF treatment in this country is up with the most advanced in the world. At present, guidelines issued by the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the Medical Council are all we have. Because both bodies are composed mainly of doctors, this means there has been very little non medical input into a field where ethical and philosophical considerations are as important as clinical ones.
Dr Halpenny's main concern is the freezing of embryos. Mr Peter Brinsden of the Bourn Clinic in England, which hopes to set up a satellite clinic here, has pointed out that the destruction of embryos by "unfreezing" them is, from the point of view of the embryo, little different from placing them in part of the female genital tract where implantation is impossible which, he suggests, is what happens here now (Irish Medical Times, August 2nd).
The Medical Council guidelines say "all fertilised embryos produced by IVF should be replaced optimally this should be three ink any treatment cycle". This, while not forbidding embryo freezing, is apparently being interpreted to mean that the other embryos should be disposed of as suggested above. The Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, in stating the principles underlying IVF, point out that "drugs are usually given to women to stimulate the ovaries to produce several eggs". This stimulation is not without its own risks to the woman, one of the reasons why embryos are frozen, so that the "spare" ones could be used on another cycle if the first attempt fails.
Dr Halpenny is right, I believe, in suggesting that more clinics practising IVF will be established here. Surely clinics should at least be obliged to register and give details of the procedures they undertake? Couples put huge emotional and financial resources into undergoing IVF treatment; they should not be reduced to hoping for some sort of protection under consumer legislation. - Yours, etc.,
Seanad Eireann, Dublin 2.