StemLifeLine pushing parents to use extra embryos to "protect the future"

Many have been lulled into thinking that because of the federal ban on funding for fetal stem cell research, it is banned. That's how our media portray it.

However, it is a ban on federal funding only - not on the practice itself.

Corporations are already figuring out ways to make money from this from couples who've undergone IVF - while massaging their consciences so they won't think they're just killing the extra babies they've produced.

The following passages are taken from the first few paragraphs of two pages from a California
corporation called StemLifeLine, located in San Mateo County, California

StemLifeLine is proud to offer a unique service to individuals who have undergone in vitro fertilization. Until now, there have been only three options for embryos remaining after individual childbearing needs have been fulfilled. They could be donated to research, given up for "adoption" to other couples or discarded. We provide a fourth option for these embryos which is to generate personal stem cell lines that can one day be used to create personal therapies.

StemLifeLine derives and cryopreserves stem cells from remaining stored embryos. Derivation of stem cell lines from human embryos is a highly sophisticated and delicate process which requires state-of-the-art cell culture facilities and a skilled staff.

GETTING STARTED

Step-by-Step Guide

Getting started is simple. You can begin by speaking with your fertility doctor or clinic, by sending an email to info@stemlifeline.com or by calling (650) 592-STEM (7836). Following is a step-by-step guide of what to expect.

1. Contact your fertility clinic and/or your physician to let them know of your decision to have a personal stem cell line developed from your remaining stored embryos.

If your IVF center does not currently offer our service, please contact us directly via phone or email. We will send you a patient information package and work with your personal physician or fertility clinic to initiate services.

Wander around the StemLifeLine website if you want to get the creeps in the tradition of Hal the Computer's voice in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

This terrible scenario is why I am against IVF, period.

There are thousands of embryos in our man-made limbo now, leaving us with a problem. One humane solution is embryo adoption.