Bioethics Archives - Silent Sorority

Bioethics

Reality Check: IVF Industry 2019 What You Need to Know

Each October I make a point to follow the ASRM conference. For those who don’t know, ASRM is the largest IVF industry trade group in the United States. They gather each year to congratulate each other and promote new ways ways to grow their clinics and businesses. This year was no different. Fortunately, the editors […]

Bioethics

Defining Abuse in Assisted Reproductive Technology

Abuse is a strong word. A formal definition of abuse is to “treat (a person or an animal) with cruelty or violence, especially regularly or repeatedly.” Mistreatment is one synonym. Linking Abuse with IVF I will travel from the U.S. to London later this week. Once there I will collaborate with clinicians, bioethicists, social scientists, […]

Bioethics

Tapestry of Voices

That IVF Sausage Factory

IVF is a Sausage Factory I was not Prepared For… So writes Professor James Arvanitakis in an essay for The Sydney Morning Herald. Oh how we hear you, James. We are immensely grateful for your honesty. In a few paragraphs you painted a clear picture of what it feels like to be on the receiving […]

Bioethics

It’s Performance Review Time, Fertility Industry!

Performance review time, already, for the fertility industry? Yes, it’s mid-October so let’s check in on the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) confab. This year it’s billed as a Scientific Congress and EXPO. Per usual, there are a few eyebrow raisers. I followed #ASRM2016 on Twitter over coffee this morning. (A decision made easier […]

Bioethics

Pop Culture

Biological Clock and the Capitalizing of Fertility Fears

Moira Weigel’s essay in The Guardian, The foul reign of the biological clock, casts new light on a little explored but powerful cultural phenomenon. It also revealed the fertility industry’s long history of capitalizing on fertility fears, with women paying the price. Let’s start with the facts. The term ‘biological clock,’ Weigel explains, was originally […]

Bioethics

Conflict of Interest? Fertility Patients Beware

Most of us take non-profits and their causes at face value and assume the people leading the charge are straight arrows with nary a conflict of interest. This is not always the case. The most recent example of things not quite being what they seem came from the recent CBS News investigation into the Wounded […]

Bioethics

HealthCARE vs. Health Business: True Fertility Medicine ‘Helpers’ Don’t Hide Statistics and Agendas

It’s rare that male readers weigh in on the topic of fertility health and society’s response to the marketing of ‘fertility’ treatments. Such an occurrence introduced an added jolt to my morning coffee. More refreshing still were the “ah-has” that accompanied the insight-laden comment (a blog post unto itself really). Let’s annotate his comment further. […]

Bioethics

Fertility Industry’s Troubling History of Omission, Growth Over Health, Safety

In a powerful new essay, Questioning the Cult of Repro Tech, health advocate and author Miriam Zoll reveals little publicized details behind today’s now seemingly ubiquitous fertility procedure: in vitro fertilization (IVF). Her research and writing make for a compelling read. Zoll raises important questions about bioethics and the way fertility medicine is marketed and […]

Bioethics

Fertility Industry Conning Patients?

Doctor, con and IVF are not words you want to see in the same sentence. Yet that’s what you’ll find in this strongly worded piece written by Professor Robert Winston, author of a new guide on fertility. Winston’s scathing analysis of his brethren and the fertility industry that has grown up around treatments is all […]