So, I know Fertility News is on Friday but I had to post this because it’s been brewing on my mind. On August 5th, (as I’m sure you may have heard), the first woman conceived through IVF in America gave birth to a baby boy ‘the natural way.’ And while this is a fantastic milestone in infertility, after reading this CNN article and it’s comments, I wonder if we have really come so far in the last 29 years.
First off, the writer titles the article “First U.S. test tube baby is a mom” even though she specifically adds that Elizabeth hates the term “test-tube baby.” How insensitive! IVF has come along way from this coined term in the 80s and yet, here it resurfaces in such an obtuse way! It makes IVF sound like a science experiment!
And then there’s the comments…how IVF “plays God” or embryos are “flushed” or discarded like “yesterday’s dinner.” Seriously, what embryos are discarded like this? I made a VERY difficult decision to donate my remaining 3 (out of a total of 25 fertilized in 3 fresh cycles) to stem cell research. It boggles my mind how ignorant people are to the whole process!
Another opinion that her “conception was cold and unloving” was insulting! I was also insulted at the comment that someone left that infertile couples are “selfish” because they don’t choose to adopt instead. But I was particularly stunned at this one, “If your body is unable to conceive or fertilize, that’s nature’s way of taking you out of the gene pool.”
Go on and read the article and the comments and use this post as your own sound board!
What do you think about how far we have come? Share your thoughts!
yuck. YUCK. YUCK. YUCK.
this makes me so sad. and that comment about being selfish is so ugly.
Thank you for sharing this, I hadn’t heard or seen this article…I’ll definitely be reposting on my blog later this week!
I did a post about this last week and it wasn’t as nice as yours (fyi if anyone hits it, sailor words are used).
http://ifashley.blogspot.com/2010/08/oh-my.html
I can’t believe they call her a test tube baby, even after she specifically said she doesn’t like it! If you ever read any articles regarding infertility the comment section is usually pretty harsh.
interesting article, thanks for sharing.
some of the comments are quite startling, unfortunately, I guess that’s to be expected.
Some people are unbelievable!! That gene pool comment is so ignorant!
There were a few news stories that were done on me as I was preparing for my first IVF round, and the comments that came out of those were insane to me. I am so used to getting so much love and support from my blog, but these people were judging me based on a 4 minute video piece and a 1000 word article – nothing more. It was really painful at first, and there were a lot of the same comments you mention here (although, some took it a step further – one gentleman wrote “I hope she dies during childbirth”, and another commented on the fact that because I was pursuing this as a single woman, I must be planning on going on state assistance).
I finally just realized how ignorant these people were and how little they knew about me, my story, and infertility. It made me feel better when I was able to step back and recognize that the people who know me and my story support me 100%, and really – that’s all that should matter. There will always be ignorant people who have no idea what they’re talking about and who think they are equipped to decide what God’s plan may be, but those people are pretty easy to tune out!
was an article I liked. Thanks for sharing.
…