Recent News

How Danish Sperm is Conquering the World
Will Pavia, Times Online, November 27, 2006
As sperm donations in Britain slow to a trickle, Denmark has become the sperm donation source for Europe.
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Fertility Industry Booms Online
Sue Zeidler, ABC News, November 25, 2006
More and more people are finding life on the Internet as the estimated $3-billion fertility industry increasingly moves online.
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British Woman in Last Bid to Keep Embryos
The Guardian, November 22, 2006
A woman nears the end of a long-running court battle with her former partner over the right to use frozen embryos.
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PGS: Select or Reject? -- It's Not Just About Improving Pregnancy Rates
Alan Handyside, BioNews.org.uk, November 20, 2006
Ten years since the first reports of PGS (pre-implantation genetic screening), mistrust of the clinical approach appears to be surfacing.
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My Boss is 65 and Pregnant
Tim Harford, Slate.com, November 11, 2006
Women in their 50s, and older, becoming mothers, such as Patricia Rashbrook, who this year became the oldest new mother in Britain at the age of 62, is likely to become increasingly common.
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Public Supports Anonymity for Sperm Donors
Sarah Hall, The Guardian, November 10, 2006
People who donate their sperm or eggs to infertile couples should have the right to remain anonymous, according to a survey of British attitudes about fertility treatment.
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Family Planning Policy Prevents 400 Million Births
China Daily, November 9, 2006
China's population would be higher than it is presently - by approximately 400 people - if a family planning policy ordering couples to have just one child had not been put in place, according to the Chinese government.
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New York Doctor Given Go-ahead for World's First Womb Transplant
Julie Wheldon, Daily Mail, November 9, 2006
Doctors are hoping to carry out the world's first womb transplant and have begun interviewing prospective patients. An American team has been given approval for the groundbreaking operation following laboratory experiments on animals.
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Rules Needed Now on Surrogate Birth
Yomiuri Shimbun, Daily Yomiuri Online, November 8, 2006
Reproductive medicine has advanced rapidly, but the author of this article contends that there has been no advancement in Japan¹s laws governing pregnancy, birth, and paternity.
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Contraception as an Option for the Man
Michael Mason, The New York Times, November 7, 2006
For years, researchers have been promising that a new contraceptive for men is just around the corner. An international survey that included 1,500 American men found that nearly half of respondents would be willing to use some new form of male contraception.
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Eggs for Sale: The Booming Business of Sharing Your Fertility
Jonathan Thompson and Renee Knight, The Independent, November 5, 2006
Growing numbers of British women are generating thousands of pounds by selling their eggs.
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Eggs 'For Sale' at IVF Clinic
Kate Foster, The Scotsman, November 5, 2006
A private IVF clinic is allowing middle-aged women to 'buy' the eggs of younger patients for the first time in Scotland.
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'Selling My Eggs Could Clear My Debts'
Rachel MacManus, BBC News, October 30, 2006
One in six British couples struggles to have a baby. Alexandra Saunders from High Wycombe has advertised her eggs on the Internet and hopes to make enough money to pay off credit card debt.
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Ready to be Dads, But They're Going to Need Help
Kevin Sack, Los Angeles Times, October 29, 2006
For a baby of their own, same-sex male couples have to draw on science, the law, and their families. This article looks at the process of creating a family for such couples through the aid of lawyers, physicians and online resources.
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Women Freeze Eggs in Wait for Right Partner, US Study Finds
Ian Sample, The Guardian, October 27, 2006
Some women are electing to freeze their eggs to take the pressure off of finding Mr. Right, according to the first study on women's motivations to use the service.
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Pay Egg Donors, Say Fertility Specialists
Jeremy Laurance, The Independent, October 26, 2006
Women should be paid to donate their eggs to ease a shortage in the UK, which leads to long wait lists at fertility clinics, specialists said. The removal of anonymity from egg and sperm donors in Britain in April of last year has triggered a decline in donors, forcing patients to seek treatment abroad.
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Reproduction Revolution: Sex for Fun, IVF for Children
Jo Whelan, New Scientist, October 20, 2006
Could we be moving toward an era in which entering nature's genetic lottery is no longer seen as a desirable way to bring a child into the world? Might natural conception even come to be thought of as "irresponsible"?
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Older Mothers Risk Fertility of Daughters
Ian Sample, The Guardian, October 25, 2006
Women who delay having children until later in life risk damaging the fertility of their daughters, researchers warn.
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Gene Mutation Turns Girls into Boys
Kerri Smith, Nature.com, October 15, 2006
A gene has now been discovered that, when mutated, turns girls into boys. The finding advances, but also complicates, understanding of how sex is determined by genes.
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IOM Convenes Panel of Medical Experts to Discuss Health Risks Linked to Human Egg Donation
KaiserNetwork.org, October 2, 2006
The Institute of Medicine reported that, while medical and psychological risks associated with human egg donation for the purposes of embryonic stem-cell research exist, they are not serious enough to restrict research in the field.
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Court Rules in Favor of Mukai Twins; Tokyo Ward Ordered to Register Birth of Boys Born to Surrogate Mom
The Daily Yomiuri, October 1, 2006
In a controversial decision, the Tokyo High Court ordered the registration of two-year-old twin boys born to a surrogate mother in America.
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Ova for Sale
Kerry Howley, Reason, October 2006
An egg donor explores the history of IVF and recounts her experience dealing in the market for human eggs.
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Man Sues Over Sperm Given to Wrong Woman
Joseph Frazier, Washington Post, September 22, 2006
A man who donated sperm so that his fiance could be inseminated is suing an Oregon hospital that gave the sample to the wrong woman.
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More Couples Screening Embryos for Gender
Associate Press, CNN.com, September 21, 2006
Surveys show a growing number of controversial fertility procedures, such as sex selection and conceiving children whose cord blood will be compatible with other siblings.
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Center Study Probes Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis
Rick Borchelt and Shawna Williams, DNAPolicy.org, September 20, 2006
Nearly three-quarters of in vitro fertilization procedures utilize pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. A new study to appear in Fertility and Sterility highlights important information about the practices and outcomes of this now-common procedure.
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IVF Mistake Creates a Tough Dilemma
Sheila McLean, The Scotsman, September 18, 2006
An IVF clinic in Britain mistakenly switched two sperm donations, creating a serious ethical and legal dilemma for two families.
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IVF: Women Facing New NHS Limits of One Embryo
Lyndsay Moss, The Scotsman, September 18, 2006
UK health authorities are considering a proposal to limit IVF implantation to a single embryo in attempt to avoid twin births.
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Single Embryo Transfer Likely to be Recommended in UK
Kirsty Horsey, The Sunday Times, September 17, 2006
The UK's fertility treatment regulator is likely to recommend that women undergoing IVF treatment should only be allowed to have one embryo transferred at a time.
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Better Than Sex:
The Growing Practice of Embryo Eugenics
William Saletan, Slate.com, September 16, 2006
Recent developments in embryo eugenics, including pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), may provide benefits for in vitro fertilization, but may lead to gene discrimination.
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Ads, Money Lure Some Young Women to Become Egg Donors, but There are Drawbacks
Nancy McVicar, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, September 5, 2006
This article weighs in on the egg donation market, pointing out the lucrative nature of the practice but also identifying the psychological and health risks involved.
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Couples Cull Embryos to Halt Heritage of Cancer
Amy Harmon, The New York Times, September 3, 2006
This article explores the procedure known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), a process by which embryos conceived through in vitro fertilization are genetically tested for disease. Those embryos possessing mutations are then destroyed.
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Malfunction Destroys Sperm Samples
AP, www.newsday.com, September 3, 2006
A malfunction in a refrigeration tank led to the destruction of thousands of sperm samples at a Florida women's health center. About 60 samples were from men who feared cancer treatment would leave them sterile.
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Equal Fertility Treatment Wanted for Lesbians and Single Women
The Independent, August 30, 2006
The British Fertility Society recently made several recommendations concerning state-funded fertility treatment. Among the suggestions for seeking treatment are that lesbian women should receive the same rights as heterosexual women, obese women should initiate weight loss, smoking should not be grounds for refusal, and the age of the father should not be a factor.
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Frozen Sperm Results May Bring Dead to Life
Tan Ee Lyn, Reuters, August 15, 2006
Researchers have developed a method of freezing sperm so that, when defrosted, it retains its ability to fertilize.
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Woman's IVF Death is Rare, Say Experts
Mark Henderson, Times Online, August 11, 2006
After a British woman died following an IVF procedure, fertility experts are attempting to reassure women that the procedures are safe and complications extremely rare.
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Sperm-donor Siblings Unite Online
MSNBC/Associated Press, August 11, 2006
The children of common sperm donors are uniting online not only to meet relatives but to gain information about shared medical conditions that may be inherited from the donors.
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Preterm Births Explain Cerebral Palsy Risk After IVF
Reuters, August 9, 2006
A reason children conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) have a higher risk of cerebral palsy is the correlation between IVF and premature birth.
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Payment to Egg Donors 'Justified'
Mark Henderson, Times Online, August 10, 2006
A bioethicist stated that women donating eggs for stem-cell research should be compensated for the risk, time, and inconvenience associated with the procedure.
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British Embryo Test Ruling Renews Debate
Maria Cheng, The Mercury News, August 9, 2006
Discussion of whether to expand the list of genetic conditions that can be screened using pre-implantation genetic diagnosis has been re-ignited after a British regulatory agency allowed screening for susceptibility to certain cancers. Ethicists warn that this may open the door to screening for any or all genes and intensify the ethical implications that surround the ability to determine which embryos are "fit" for life.
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China Promotes Girls to Avoid Glut of Bachelors
China Daily, August 8, 2006
Without taking proactive measures, such as the "Care for Girls" program, China's gender imbalance will result - and is resulting - in millions of lonely men.
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Embryos Made to Order
Debra J. Saunders, San Francisco Chronicle, August 8, 2006
This article criticizes the lack of ethical obligations and regulation related to the newly-created "human embryo bank."
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Foreigners Flock to Thailand's Hospitals for Controversial Fertility Treatments
Taipei Times, August 7, 2006
Foreigners, labeled "fertility tourists," are traveling to Thai clinics to undergo pre-implantation genetic diagnosis in order to choose the sex of their children.
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Genome Research Approves Genetic Screening
Scoop, August 2, 2006
A New Zealand report by the Human Genome Research Project makes recommendations for regulating pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.
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China Family Planning Commission Will Continue Enforcing Fines for Sex-selective Abortions, Minister Says
KaiserNetwork.org, August 3, 2006
Although physicians will not face criminal penalty for sex-selective abortions, administrative penalties are still in effect for clinics performing abortions for non-medical reasons.
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The Business of Babies
Debora Spar, Science and Theology News, August 1, 2006
A variety of assisted reproductive techniques have left infertility a thing of the past but opened the door to a host of ethical questions.
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Embryo Report Calls for Changes
One News, August 1, 2006
A New Zealand report to parliament recommends a relaxation of rules regarding pre-implantation genetic diagnosis on embryos for traits such as genetic disorders and sex.
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Sperm: Your Country Needs You
The Independent, July 30, 2006
Sperm donation in the U.K. has lagged after laws have removed the choice donors to remain anonymous.
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Cloning's Egg Donors Get Cheap IVF
Mark Henderson, The Australian, July 29, 2006
British women undergoing in vitro fertilization can reduce treatment costs up to half by donating 50% of their eggs for stem-cell research after clinics gained approval by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
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World's First Donor Created Human Embryo Bank - The Abraham Center of Life - Opening in San Antonio
EWORLDWIRE, July 28, 2006
An infertility center in Texas accepts donated embryos that are then made available to infertile couples.
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The Family Nest Eggs
Andrea Brown, The Gazette, July 24, 2006
A 22-year-old college graduate has donated her eggs to a fertility clinic to help infertile couples and for the substantial monetary compensation.
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Chasing Chromosomes: Selecting for Sex
Katherine Seligman, San Francisco Chronicle, July 23, 2006
Couples seeking children of a specific sex are turning to pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and in vitro fertilization to increase the likelihood that their pregnancies will result in children of a chosen gender.
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Judge: Women Too Late to Sue Over Stolen Embryos
CNN.com, July 22, 2006
A judge's ruling stated that women who unknowingly had their embryos implanted in infertile women could no longer sue due to the time lapse between their supposed knowledge of the conduct and their filing of claims.
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Confessions of a "Genetic Outlaw"
Elizabeth R. Schiltz, Business Week, July 20, 2006
An improvement on PGD, called pre-implantation genetic haplotyping (PGH), can screen embryos for 6,000 inherited genetic diseases. However, such advancements lead to pressing issues of eugenics, discrimination, and extremely difficult moral and ethical decisions.
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Picking Pink or Blue
Techniques for sex selection offer options for balancing families but raise ethical issues
John A. Robertson, July 17, 2006
As ART and genetic screening are advancing rapidly, ethical and policy concerns surround the issue of whether patients should be allowed to choose their children's sex for non-medical reasons have arisen.
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The Misery Behind the Baby Trade
Fran Abrams, Daily Mail, July 17, 2006
As a 62-year-old woman became Britain's oldest woman to give birth to a child, startling facts are emerging concerning the risks associated with European egg donation and fertility clinics.
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Judge Rules Irish Man Didn't OK Embryo Use
Shawn Pogatchnik, Examiner.com, July 18, 2006
A Dublin man won a verdict stating that he did not consent to allowing his estranged wife to use the couple's frozen embryos.
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Wichita Couple Seek Donations for IVF
CBS News, July 15, 2006
After being unable to conceive naturally, a couple has started a website to raise money for in vitro fertilization.
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Three Million Babies Born Using Assisted Reproductive Technologies
Mary Rice, EurekAlert, June 21, 2006
Since the first ART baby was born in Britain 28 years ago, more than 3 million babies have been born worldwide through the use of assisted reproductive technologies according to a report presented at the 22nd annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.
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IVF Identity Fraud: A Phenomenon That Puts Patients, Children, and Clinics at Risk
Mary Rice, EurekAlert, June 20, 2006
A variety of ethical and legal concerns arise when patients at fertility clinics misrepresent their identities or those of their partners in order to gain access to treatment of funding.
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How IVF Could be Causing Genetic Errors in Embryos
Emma Mason, EurekAlert, June 19, 2006
A study examining genetic imprinting in mouse embryos may shed light on developmental problems associated with in vitro fertilization. Scientists found that by altering the conditions in which IVF takes place, changes in gene activation or expression occur, impacting the health of the embryo.
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New Method of Testing Eggs for Abnormalities Could Solve Problems of Embryo Freezing
Emma Mason, EurekAlert, June 19, 2006
Italian researchers have developed a novel technique used to test women's eggs for chromosomal abnormalities. The process will aid in comporting with Italian regulations concerning embryo use and may make the artificial insemination and implantation process more effective.
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Egg Donation for Stem-cell Research - Balancing the Risks and Benefits
Mary Rice, EurekAlert, June 19, 2006
A bioethicist speaking at the 22nd annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology remarked on the ethical, social, and economic concerns associated with egg donation for stem-cell research. Issues discussed included physical impact on the donor, financial inducement to donate, and exploitation and commodification of human tissue.
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Doctors Want to Screen Out Embryos with Autism
Sarah-Kate Templeton, Times Online, June 18, 2006
British doctors hope to use pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to screen embryos and select those with a reduced chance of developing autism for families with a history of the disorder. Because the procedure simply selects female embryos - which are less likely to develop autism than males - the technique is arguably embryonic sex selection, which is currently not permitted in Britain.
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Wealthy Foreign Couples Travel to U.S. to Choose Baby's Sex
Karla K. Johnson, Seattle Times, June 15, 2006
Because the United States lacks regulation regarding sex selection, foreign couples are coming to America for in vitro fertilization procedures that allow them to pre-screen embryos in order to choose the sex of their children. The practice raises a host of issues related to ethics, legality, and practicality.
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India to Tighten Laws to Stop Female Infanticide
Nita Bhalla, Reuters, June 14, 2006
India hopes to strengthen enforcement of regulations preventing sex determination tests. Each year, India doctors illicitly abort as many as half a million girls because sons are more desirable.
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Ethical Questions Complicate the Recruitment of Egg Donors
Gareth Cook, The Boston Globe, June 7, 2006
Compared to egg donation for fertility purposes, women donating eggs for stem cell research face potential health hazards without immediate benefits to them or the recipients of the eggs.
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As the Use of Donor Sperm Increases, Secrecy Can Be a Health Hazard
Denise Grady, New York Times, June 6, 2006
This article raises the question of whether sperm donors' identities should be disclosed in the interest of making health-related information available.
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Brave New Babymaking: The Search for Sperm Donor 401
Chuck Colson, The Christian Post, May 31, 2006
The commercialization of gametes (i.e., egg and sperm donation) may lead to a host of problems, including genetic reductionism, genetic discrimination, eugenics, and the disruption of traditional family connections.
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First Study to Show IVF Single Embryo Transfer as Successful as Double Transfer in Older Women
Margaret Wilson, EurekAlert, May 31, 2006
A Finish study has shown that, in embryo transfer, embryo quality is a more determinative factor than a woman's age in her chances for pregnancy and a successful childbirth.
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New Research Links Placenta Praevia Directly to Assisted Reproductive Techniques
Margaret Wilson, EurekAlert, May 24, 2006
A study by Norwegian researchers has shown that ART may lead to a six-fold increase in placenta praevia - a condition that may block a baby's passage during birth.
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Day the Daughters of Donor X Finally Met
Dana Gloger & Elizabeth Sanderson, The Mail, May 21, 2006
Two "donor siblings" - half sisters of the same father - were united because of new legislation giving children conceived from donated gametes the legal right to search for the identities of their parents and siblings.
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Disclosing the Origins of Life
Chicago Tribune, May 12, 2006
This article addresses the questions of: (1) if a centralized gamete registry containing the donors' genetic information is necessary; and (2) if it will be able to maintain donors' privacy and anonymity?
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A Booming Baby Business
Evan Pondel, LA Daily News, April 23, 2006
A rapidly growing market for egg and sperm donations has increased the monetary value paid for the service to candidates with desired characteristics.
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Childless Couples Look to India for Surrogate Mothers
Anuj Chopra, Christian Science Monitor, April 3, 2006
Many couples incapable of having a child are turning to Indian women to be surrogate mothers because of the low cost and availability of well-qualified doctors. Surrogacy has become a $450-million industry nationwide.
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Boy or Girl? Couples Choose Unborn Children's Sex
ABC News, March 25, 2006
This article discusses how some parents are choosing to use pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to ensure they have a child of a particular sex, rather than for its original use as a test for genetic disorders.
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Egg Donor Business Booms on Campus
Jim Hopkins, USA Today, March 15, 2006
Smart, attractive college women are being offered large sums of money to "donate" their time and eggs to fertility clinics. Classified ads in college newspapers successfully seek out women despite the adverse effects the procedure may have on their health. States are beginning to take action to prevent exploitation of women.
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Troubling Times for Embryo Gene Tests
Stu Hutson, New Scientist, March 15, 2006
This article addresses genetic testing of embryos for disease-causing genes and the lack of regulatory oversight that exists in the United States regarding the subject.
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Should Women Who Do Not Seek Fertility Treatment Provide Egg Cells for Stem Cell Research?
Jan Deckers, www.BioNews.org.uk, March 8, 2006
A health care ethicist poses questions surrounding the U.K.'s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's proposal to allow women to donate eggs specifically for cloning research.
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Clinical Concerns with the New Finnish Fertility Law
Merja Tuomi-Nikula, www.BioNews.org.uk, March 8, 2006
Finland has proposed new fertility legislation that would, for the first time, provide a legal basis for fertility treatment in the country.
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Please Think Again -- Let Me Have a Baby
Lyndsay Moss, The Scotsman, March 8, 2006
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled against a woman who wishes to be implanted with fertilized embryos she stored before cancer treatment left her infertile. The woman's partner at the time of storage has withdrawn his consent for the embryos to be stored.
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Sales Ban on Eggs of Women Advances
www.azstarnet.com, February 17, 2006
The Arizona House Judiciary Committee voted to criminalize the act of buying or selling human eggs, citing safety and exploitation of women as major concerns.
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Human Genetics Commission Report on Reproductive and Genetic Technologies
Dr. Kirsty Horsey, www.BioNews.org.uk, February 14, 2006
A new report by the U.K. Human Genetics Commission welcomed technologies to detect genetic disease in at-risk families, including pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, and noted that the creation of "designer babies" was not on the horizon. The Commission stressed that monitoring of technological progress and more long-term research was needed.
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A Surplus of Embryos
Rich Bonin, cbsnews.com, February 12, 2006
This is a transcript of a "60 Minutes" interview about the surplus of embryos that exist because of overproduction for the purpose of in-vitro fertilization treatments in the United States. The unused embryos contain stem cells and could provide material for therapeutic cloning research.
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Are You My Sperm Donor? Few Clinics Will Say
Amy Harmon, nytimes.com, January 20, 2006
This article examines the practice among fertility clinics of maintaining anonymity between donors and offspring. The process, as it operates today, involves several ethical and legal implications, from the later on-set of hereditary diseases by donors, to liability and custody issues.
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Egg Freezing Set to Become More Common?
Dr. Kirsty Horsey, bionews.org, January 19, 2006
U.K. fertility specialist, Dr. Simon Fishel, predicts that increasing amounts of women will cryogenically preserve their eggs over the next 10 years as the science becomes safer. This method may become popular to women who would like to raise a family some day but are still seeking the right spouse or are developing careers.
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Ovary Banking in UK Stopped by EU Tissue Directive
Dr. Kirsty Horsey, bionews.org, January 7, 2006
The EU Tissues and Cells Directive requirement that medical facilities use "good medical practices" may make the cost of storing the ovary tissue of women undergoing cancer treatment too expensive to be feasible. The stored tissue can be reimplanted into the woman to make post-treatment fertility possible.
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U.S. Woman Gives Birth to Baby from World's First Frozen Donor Egg Bank
University of Kentucky, Eurekalert.net, January 3, 2006
Cryo Eggs International, the first commercial frozen donor egg bank, provided a donor egg, which has resulted in the first birth from this type of procedure.
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International Variation in ART Practice and Data Collection
Dr. Kirsty Horsey, bionews.org, December 29, 2005
A recent European conference illustrated the global differences in assisted reproductive technology practices, including provision of the technique, patient care, and use of terminology.
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Test reveals gender early in pregnancy
The Boston Globe, June 27, 2005
A new blood test, called the Baby Gender Mentor, offers American women the chance to find out whether they are having a boy or a girl almost as soon as they realize they are pregnant, as early as five weeks along. The blood test detects the presence of the Y chromosome in the “cell-free” DNA which comes from the fetus and floats freely in a pregnant woman's blood. Ethicists are concerned that the test may lead to sex selection- a decision to abort the child if the mother is not carrying the gender of her preference.
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Scientists investigate how to create sperm and eggs in the lab; Embryo stem cells could solve infertility
The Advertiser ( Australia ), June 21, 2005
Research at the University of Sheffield 's Centre for Stem Cell Biology has shown human stem cells can be turned into primordial germ cells, which create eggs and sperm. The researchers took six stem cell lines from human embryos and allowed them to develop into a collection of cells some of which displayed characteristics of primordial germ cells and produced proteins found in sperm. In combination with cloning techniques that create a genetic match with an infertile man or woman, the new breakthrough will help infertile couples and even same-sex couples have their own children

Harriet Chiang
Mom Awarded $1 million over Embryo Mix-Up
San Francisco Chronicle, Aug. 4, 2004 at B3
In the settlement of a malpractice lawsuit against a fertility doctor, a California woman has been awarded $1 million in damages. The woman was accidentally implanted with embryos intended for a married couple and was not notified of the error until after her son was born. The doctor, fearing that this was the woman’s last chance at pregnancy, decided not to tell her and let nature run its course. Although other experts agreed with the decision, the Medical Board of California is investigating the incident. See also, “Woman Wins Lawsuit Over Embryos,” CNN.com. Full article

'Saviour Sibling' Babies Get Green Light
New Scientist.com, July 22, 2004
New Scientist.com reports that on July 22, 2004, the United Kingdom became the first to officially sanction the process of selecting an embryo based upon its genetic makeup for the purpose of extracting genes to aid a couple’s sick child. full article

Sperm Inject RNA Into Eggs at Fertilisation
New Scientist.com, May 12, 2004
A new study conducted at Wayne State University has revealed that sperm inject RNA into egg cells at the time of fertilization, contrary to prior understandings that only DNA was transferred in the process. full article

'Savior Babies' Offer Hope to Their Ill Siblings
Chicago Tribune, May 5, 2004, at 7
A Chicago laboratory helped create five healthy babies so that they could serve as stem-cell donors for their ailing brothers and sisters.

First IVF embryo research licenses issued in Australia
News-Medical.Net, April 17, 2004
Australia's Embryo Research Licensing Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council issues first licenses to allow research on excess human embryos. The Licensing Committee prohibits research on embryos unless they are no longer required for in vitro fertilization procedures and couples have given their informed consent. full article

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