By Katherine Kraschel
The loss in Dobbs and the bleak outlook for abortion rights within the federal courts may afford advocates a unique opportunity to fully adopt a reproductive justice framework and apply it to access to fertility care, as other contributors to this symposium have argued.
This article outlines specific strategies for blue states eager to stake a claim in the reproductive justice movement to consider.
By Scott J. Schweikart*
Many medical professionals in the United States today face a personal dilemma over whether to delay (and potentially forego) starting a family in order to fulfill lengthy medical training. In response to these concerns, the American Medical Association (AMA) recently passed a new policy that supports trainee access to assisted reproductive technologies (ART).
By Kimberly Mutcherson
As advocates construct arguments for saving and expanding abortion access, they should also think deeply about what it means to deny or refuse would-be mothers from traditionally disfavored groups the access to assisted reproductive technology.
By Courtney G. Joslin
Increasing numbers of people are forming families through assisted reproduction. Recently, there has been a push to impose new regulations on various aspects of this process. Some of these new laws open up participants to a range of possible penalties — civil, criminal, and/or professional discipline — for past “misconduct.” Other laws seek proactively to regulate the fertility care process. For example, some laws regulate the collection and dissemination of medical and identifying information about gamete providers — that is, sperm and egg donors. Other proposals seek to require gamete providers to agree to the release of their medical records.
It is surely important to assess and evaluate fertility care practices and to consider whether additional regulation is appropriate in this space. Particularly in the post-Dobbs era — an era marked by increasing attacks on reproductive health care (including access to IVF) and on LGBTQ people — it is also important to proceed cautiously and to consider how these proposals may adversely impact reproductive autonomy and family recognition.
By I. Glenn Cohen
It is estimated that roughly one in five hundred U.S. women suffer from Uterine Factor Infertility — they were born without a uterus, they lost their uterus, or their uterus no longer functions. Until very recently, this essentially meant that pregnancy was not an option for these women. Because of uterus transplants, this is beginning to change. Such transplants raise a host of legal and ethical questions, which I will preview in this piece.
By Naomi Cahn and Sonia Suter
In the aftermath of Dobbs, as barriers to accessing fertility care increase, one area of growing interest is informal (“DIY”) sperm donation, which does not use sperm banks or fertility clinics and thus appears to challenge some of the class and race inequities in access to assisted reproductive technology.
By Sravya Chary
Assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) such as artificial insemination, egg retrieval, and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) have revolutionized the landscape for people facing reproductive obstacles. Disappointingly, none of these technologies are covered under Medicaid — an insurance program for low-income adults and children, and people with qualifying disabilities.
Given the high prices of ARTs, those on Medicaid, which includes a disproportionate number of BIPOC individuals, are left behind in sharing the benefits of advancements in reproductive technologies. It is vital for ARTs to be covered under Medicaid to uphold reproductive justice and autonomy for this patient population.
[Cross-posted from Concurring Opinions]
By: Gaia Bernstein
Egg freezing has become the new hot trend in the infertility industry. Although infertility practitioners first used egg freezing in the mid 1980s, it was only recently that success rates have significantly risen making this an attractive option for women. A woman can now freeze her eggs at any age and use it a few years later or much later with the sperm of her then chosen partner or a donor to have a baby through IVF. Using egg freezing technology, a woman can today have a baby at a time that best suits her career and family situation.
There is no doubt that egg freezing as a viable option is a huge revolution for women’s autonomy. But the big question is why only now? Why has egg freezing become a really viable option only during the first decade of the Twenty-First Century? We have known how to freeze sperm since the 1950s. And, embryo freezing was first tried out around the same time as egg freezing, during the mid-1980s. Yet, unlike egg freezing, embryo freezing became common practice soon thereafter. So why did we have to wait so long for effective egg freezing technology?
The answer usually given to this question is that it was just too complicated technologically and took a long time to develop. But were technological complications the only cause for delay? Is it really much harder to freeze and thaw eggs for later IVF use than to freeze and thaw embryos for later use? We tend to be taken by the illusion that science is value neutral — that scientific progress is not affected by choices directed by social values. But even if technological diffiuclties played a role in the delay, could egg freezing technology have been held back because resources were invested elsewhere? Unlike other forms of reproductive technology that promote the reproductive interests of both men and women, egg freezing promotes mainly the autonomy interests of women. Egg freezing’s impact on women autonomy can be compared only to the revolutionary effect of the birth control pill. At the same time, the infertility industry is comprised overwhelmingly by male practitioners. And while some have no doubt worked relentlessly to promote egg freezing technology, it may be time to stop assuming that technological complications held back this important women emancipating technology. It may be time to begin asking whether the advancement of egg freezing was placed on the back burner for years because of the type of interests it promotes?