Nation's Pre-Eminent Infertility Patient Advocacy Group Calls on Congress to Override President's St

Jun 21, 08:15 AM

Current Headlines: To: MEDICAL EDITORS

Contact: Pamela Madsen, Executive Director of The American Fertility Association, Pamela.Madsen@TheAFA.org, +1-718-547-7929

NEW YORK, June 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Fertility Association (The AFA) is profoundly concerned by President Bush's veto of legislation loosening the federal purse strings on stem cell research, superimposing a personal political, moral and religious agenda that stifles scientific work supported by 60% of all Americans.

The AFA, representing more than 40,000 people who struggle daily with infertility and who have created most of the 400,000 embryos currently in storage that lie at the heart of his action, urges the Congress to override the veto and fund the young, promising and rapidly evolving stem cell field.

Our members have suffered a great deal -- psychologically, emotionally, physically, socially and financially -- to produce those embryos. In large measure and for a variety of reasons, the hundreds of thousands of embryos banked in liquid nitrogen will not be used for family-building purposes. For many couples who wrestle with the embryo disposition dilemma, donating them to research is a life-affirming choice that allows for closure.

Indeed, a just-released study by researchers at Duke University Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University found that of the 1,000 fertility patients surveyed who created embryos, 60% said they'd be likely to donate surplus frozen embryos for stem cell research. That is 10 times higher than previous estimates. Furthermore the study indicates that donation for research is much more preferable than either donation to another couple for reproductive purposes or thawing the embryos without intent to transfer.

"The study confirms what The AFA has said repeatedly: Federal policy does not reflect the preferences of the majority of our members," said Pamela Madsen, executive director of the national nonprofit patient advocacy organization. "The veto establishes a fundamental roadblock, preventing people from doing what they may consider is the right thing. It is an egregious incursion by the government into the private realm of personal choice and individual freedom. The time for change is now."

The AFA, acutely aware of the turmoil fertility patients feel when confronting the disposition of "surplus" frozen embryos, has produced several publications clearly and objectively outlining all the possible options. Like all The AFA's educational materials, they are available for free on our website, http://www.theafa.org.

For further information, please contact Pamela Madsen, Executive Director, The American Fertility Association, at Pamela.Madsen@TheAFA.orgor call 718-547-7929.

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SOURCE The American Fertility Association

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