The Risk Of An Ectopic Pregnancy

PGD is known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosing. I do not think it is ethical to design and conceive a child that meets specific genetic requirements. I do not feel that this is an ethical reason to conceive a child. Rather, I believe all children should be seen as blessings or gifts, not sacrificial genetic progeny.

One advantage is the ability to reduce the risk for diseases. Through procedures like pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), one can inspect embryos created by in vitro fertilization (IVF) for many genetic conditions (Macklin, 2014, para. 1). While this process can be extremely beneficial ensuring the health of future generations, it can be misused in many ways.

Patients with early, normal intrauterine pregnancies often present with signs and symptoms similar to those encountered in patients with ectopic pregnancies and other gynecologic or gastrointestinal conditions. The availability of various biochemical, ultrasonographic, and surgical modalities can aid in establishing a definitive diagnosis and differentiating among various conditions. Serum β-HCG levels correlate with the size and gestational age in normal embryonic growth. In a normal pregnancy, the β-HCG level doubles every 48–72 hours until it reaches 10,000–20,000 mIU/mL. In ectopic pregnancies, β-HCG levels usually increase less. Ultrasonography is arguably the most important tool for diagnosing an extrauterine pregnancy, although it is more frequently used to confirm an intrauterine pregnancy. Ultrasonography for a presumed ectopic pregnancy shows an empty uterus on endovaginal ultrasonographic images in patients with a serum beta–human chorionic gonadotropin (β-HCG) level greater than the discriminatory cutoff value is an ectopic pregnancy until proven otherwise. An empty uterus may also represent a recent abortion. In the presence of a definite ectopic pregnancy, a thick, brightly echogenic, ringlike structure is located outside the uterus, with a gestational sac containing an

Sarah Alsamarai is a university student who conducted a research report on PGD. Although she shared her concerns she was overall for PGD. She said that PGD can be used as an effective tool to prevent the birth of a seriously ill child. Her opinion was that parents should have the right to use existing embryo screening tests to determine all possible characteristics of offspring. Unless a tangible harm to

I choose this topic because couples who are infertile are now turning to other birthing methods such as IVF. IVF is one of the causes of ectopic pregnancy.

The overall group that will be impacted is society as a whole. The expenses of having to see multiple specialists and then to go through operations such as in vitro fertilization and replacing genes, can get expensive very quickly. This could ultimately cause a divide in society as a whole between economic classes. Making the rich, richer, essentially in the form of gaining more power, and the poor,

Many doctors, researchers and parents that have genetic disorders are for the use of PGD. Dr Mary Birdsall, of Fertility Associates, works with patients that have had multiple miscarriages, infertility issues, failed IVF, pre diagnosed genetic conditions and parents that cannot get pregnant. "Many people miscarry because they have implanted a chromosomally abnormal baby," Birdsall says. "The idea of going through an IVF cycle and choosing, as far as you can tell, only chromosomally normal embryos to go back into the uterus will increase the chances." Many doctors like Dr Birdsall are for the use of PGD, PGD provides parents the opportunities to increase the chances of getting pregnant by examining the embryos and implanting one that will be

In-virto fertilization (IVF) and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) can both be used when there is difficulty for a couple to naturally conceive on their own. IVF is defined as a series of procedures used to treat fertility or genetic problems and assist with the conception of a child. During IVF, mature eggs are collected from your ovaries and fertilized by sperm in a lab. IVF is the most effective assisted form of reproduction. PGD is defined as the testing of pre-implantation stage embryos or oocytes for genetic defects. It has been developed for couples whose potential offspring are at risk of severe Mendelian disorders, structural chromosome abnormalities or mitochondrial disorders.

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) is a method used to screen for genetic abnormalities and genetic defects in embryos, that were created through invitro fertilization (IVF). “IVF is the process of fertilization by extracting eggs, retrieving a sperm sample, and then manually combining an egg and sperm in a laboratory dish”. By using PGD, families with a risk of having a child with a serious genetic disorder can screen the embryo prior to implantation, to identify if the child presents genetic defects that can cause certain diseases or disorders. These genetic diseases or disorders occur due to one of more parents carrying the genetic abnormality. Screening can include counting chromosomes and/or a examination of molecules for a specific mutation or aneuploidy. PGD is a socio-scientific issue, due to the decision on whether to terminate the embryo if

Although no serious health effects have been linked to PGD, there has not been any rigorous long-term testing on this procedure. Many people agree that it seems highly likely that PGD may have a few long-term health effects because a cell is being removed from an embryo. A few studies using mice as the PGD recipients have shown a higher risk of weight gain and memory loss in adulthood.

After the embryos are selected, PGD is used to find the perfect embryo that has not inherited the genetic disorder which is implanted in the uterus of the mother. Although it is an effective method of treatment, there are many issues currently raised about this technique. The biggest issue is the destruction of embryos that are not selected to be implanted because human embryos are the very first stage of human life and should deserve the same treatment as any other humans. Another huge issue is whether the child’s value in the family will be equal as the child was conceived for a specific reason instead of natural conception. Despite the persisting issues, there are pros and cons regarding the creation of savior siblings. The main pro is the ability to treat previously untreatable genetic disorders. On the contrary, the cons include instrumentalizing human beings, and the possibility of psychological issues in the household. Overall, the cons far outweigh the pros as it feeds the issue of instrumentalizing human beings and leads to psychological problems which can be directly prevented by prioritizing research of savior embryos

PGD is currently approved to screen for over 250 genetic conditions but comes with big risks such as embryo damage from cell removal, testing not being 100% reliable/conclusive, and no definite chance of a healthy pregnancy; raising room for ethical debate such as the conflicting theories over when life starts, and whether upon conception a life begins, as well as if this process allows people to dehumanise those with genetic disorders being selected against, making PGD a socio-scientific issue.

In many cases natural conception, where the sperm from the male meets the matured female egg fails to work – the female does not get pregnant. Often after multiple failed attempts In-virto (IVF) is a viable option in order for a successful pregnancy to take place. The process of IVF involves an egg or multiple eggs from the woman’s ovaries and then fertilised by their male partners sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg, which should now have become a embryo is then transferred back into the woman’s womb to develop and grow. Any remaining eggs can then be frozen for future use. 1 In some cases during the process of IVF, multiple factors can lead to a couple to opt for the additional treatment of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). PGD is the process of removing a cell from a IVF embryo to test for a specific genetic condition (passed on my either parent) due to chromosomal abnormalities (i.e. cystic fibrosis) prior to it been transferred back in to the woman’s uterus for pregnancy. The process of PGD increases the chance of producing a healthy baby from the eggs produced during IVF. 2

Couples who have a known family genetic disorder understandably consider undertaking the PGD process. They look at PGD as an option to ensure that they produce a healthy offspring or to ensure a better chance of producing a healthy offspring. This is the main reason why there is the need for PGD. People who have tried In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and failed are also likely to try/demand PGD. Other possibe candidates for PGD are people with chromosomal disorders, women age 35 and over and women expericning reoccuring pregnancy lose.

Ectopic pregnancy (EP) is the implantation of a fertilized ovum outside the lining of the endometrial cavity (Ikeme, et al., 2005). EP is also known as tubal pregnancy; the most common site of EP which occurs when the fertilized egg gets stuck on its way to the uterus, due to tubal damage from different causes such as inflammation following a poorly treated pelvic inflammatory disease, hormonal imbalances or abnormal development of a fertilized egg (Ikeme, et al., 2005). Other sites of EP include the ovaries, cervix, broad ligament, abdominal cavity and heterotopic pregnancy though rare in spontaneous pregnancies (1 in 3000-4000), has been recorded in up to 3% of pregnancies from assisted reproduction (Symonds IM.,1998).