Outrage over aborted eggs plan

By Martin Hutchinson
BBC News Online health staff in Madrid

Eggs can be harvested for future use

Anti-abortion campaigners have described the idea of using eggs from an aborted foetus in IVF treatment as "utterly grotesque".

And leading fertility expert Lord Robert Winston said the concept was not only a long way from reality, but unnecessary because alternative, more ethical options were also in development.

"There is a widespread objection by about 80% of the British population who feel that using aborted foetuses is repugnant," he said.

I'm fully aware of the controversy about this - but probably, in some place, it will be ethically acceptable

Dr Tal Biron-Shenton, Meir Hospital

Q&A: Using aborted foetuses

The highly controversial idea has been suggested as one solution to a worldwide shortage of women prepared to donate their eggs to help other women become pregnant.

In the UK, there are 200 women chasing every donated egg that becomes available.

Scientists say it should one day be possible to use tissue from aborted foetuses for IVF following the discovery that ovarian tissue taken from second and third trimester foetuses could be kept alive in the laboratory for weeks.

The ovarian follicles from the foetuses - which would eventually mature to release eggs in a fully-grown woman - even developed slightly from their "primordial" state when placed in special culture chemicals.

However, many scientific advances have to be made before it becomes technically possible to produce a viable egg which could be used in IVF.

We do not know enough about the differences between immature eggs derived from foetuses and those from adults where the hormonal environment is completely different

Dr Geraldine Hartshorne

The lead researcher, Dr Tal Biron-Shental, from Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, Israel, conceded that the concept of taking egg follicles from an aborted baby was controversial.

Presenting the work to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Madrid, she said: "I'm fully aware of the controversy about this - but probably, in some place, it will be ethically acceptable."

There is a shortage of donated oocytes (eggs) for IVF - oocytes from aborted foetuses might provide a new source for these.

"There are a huge amount of follicles in the foetal ovary."

Abnormalities

Her study, carried out in collaboration with Utrecht University in the Netherlands, involved seven foetuses which had been aborted later than usual in pregnancy because abnormalities were discovered.

Who would want to know that their mother was an aborted baby?

Nuala Scarisbrick, Life

Ovarian tissue samples, containing large numbers of follicles, were taken, and placed in a culture of growth-promoting chemicals in the laboratory.

Click here to see a graphic explaining the experimental process

After four weeks, chemical tests suggested that not only were many of the follicles still alive, but that some had begun developing into a more mature state - raising the possibility that one day, one could be persuaded to produce an egg that would be suitable for IVF.

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This is going too far. Imagine how the child who is born through this method will feel.

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Dr Biron-Shental said that while the follicles were "healthy and viable" at this stage, improvements would be needed in the chemicals used to culture them to progress much further.

Nuala Scarisbrick, from the charity Life, said she found the idea of harvesting follicles from aborted foetuses as "utterly grotesque".

"Just because there may be a demand for this from desperate people doesn't make it right.

"I imagine that most normal people would be repulsed by the idea of this - but nothing is impossible these days, and, at the speed that science moves, I imagine this will be possible soon."

"Who would want to know that their mother was an aborted baby?"

Her views were echoed by Josephine Quintavalle, of Comment on Reproductive Ethics, who told the BBC: "I would like to find anybody who is not horrified by this proposal.

"I would also like to know what sort of woman would accept eggs under these conditions."

Research boost

Professor Roger Gosden, director of the Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in the US, told BBC News Online that there were a number of question marks, ethical and practical, over the use of foetal follicles to help people become pregnant.

We do not consider the use of tissue from this source to be acceptable for fertility treatment.

Spokesman, HFEA

However, he said that the research itself was worthwhile, because it might help doctors learn more about the process, even if it never led to foetal eggs being used in IVF.

He said: "Surely it's better to do some good with tissue than no good?"

Professor Gosden said eggs retrieved from ovarian tissue itself might prove a better alternative to foetal eggs in the long run.

"I do have a problem if the research is extended to using foetal ovarian tissue for treatment of patients."

Lord Winston said it was unlikely that scientists could successfully mature eggs taken from foetal ovarian tissue.

"To talk about foetal ovarian tissue as an answer to the donation problem is a complete nonsense, and it ignores the fact that scientists currently are trying to do exactly this in adult tissue where there is informed consent."

Unanswered questions

Josephine Quintavalle said the concept was horrifying

Dr Geraldine Hartshorne, of The Association of Clinical Embryologists (ACE), said it would not be acceptable to use eggs from aborted foetuses for any purpose.

She said: "Quite apart from the very serious ethical concerns, we do not know enough about the differences between immature eggs derived from foetuses and those from adults where the hormonal environment is completely different.

"The vast majority of eggs present in the foetus are destined to die even before puberty. No safety tests on the 'normality' of eggs from foetuses have ever been published and it would be completely irresponsible to use such eggs for infertility treatment."

The British Fertility Society said lack of donor eggs was a major problem in treating infertility.

"However, we do not consider that the use of material from aborted tissue is a suitable solution to this problem," the society said in a statement.

Robert Forman, from the IVF clinic the Centre for Reproductive Medicine, said the research was "quite abhorrent" because eggs had been taken from foetuses which were not aborted until up to 33 weeks of pregnancy.

"I do not think this line of research should be allowed to continue," he said.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which regulates IVF in the UK, said that it would never be allowed to happen here.

A spokesman said: "The use of foetal ovarian tissue raises difficult social, medical scientific and legal questions.

"After a public consultation, we decided that it would be difficult for any child to come to terms with being created using aborted foetal material because of prevailing social attitudes."

"We do not consider the use of tissue from this source to be acceptable for fertility treatment."

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