To all my fellow Philes
You know on the X-Files, there was the whole "Scully's eggs were stolen and weird stuff was done to them" storyline? It always seemed a little far-fetched to me. Until I ran across this case. Here are the pertinent facts:
"The women patients claim they each received a fertility drug before undergoing a laparoscopy and/or transvaginal aspiration performed by the doctors. The drug caused their bodies to produce multiple eggs, which then could be collected and fertilized outside the women's bodies (creating a pre-embryo). These fertilized eggs could be transferred back to the women's fallopian tubes or frozen for later use.
(An egg fertilized inside a woman's body is an embryo, and an egg fertilized outside a woman's body is commonly referred to as a pre-embryo.)
Each of the women in this lawsuit had their eggs harvested by the doctors in the late 1980s. After the procedure, some women were told their eggs were unsuitable for fertilization, and some women were told their eggs had been fertilized and the pre-embryo had been frozen for her future use. The patients alleged the doctors were lying and in fact stole their eggs and pre-embryos. The doctors sold some of the genetic material for research and implanted some pre-embryos into different women, possibly resulting in live births. None of the women in this case consented to have their eggs or pre-embryos donated or used for any purpose other than for their own fertility treatments and their own desire to have a child."
I have one word for this: freaky.
"The women patients claim they each received a fertility drug before undergoing a laparoscopy and/or transvaginal aspiration performed by the doctors. The drug caused their bodies to produce multiple eggs, which then could be collected and fertilized outside the women's bodies (creating a pre-embryo). These fertilized eggs could be transferred back to the women's fallopian tubes or frozen for later use.
(An egg fertilized inside a woman's body is an embryo, and an egg fertilized outside a woman's body is commonly referred to as a pre-embryo.)
Each of the women in this lawsuit had their eggs harvested by the doctors in the late 1980s. After the procedure, some women were told their eggs were unsuitable for fertilization, and some women were told their eggs had been fertilized and the pre-embryo had been frozen for her future use. The patients alleged the doctors were lying and in fact stole their eggs and pre-embryos. The doctors sold some of the genetic material for research and implanted some pre-embryos into different women, possibly resulting in live births. None of the women in this case consented to have their eggs or pre-embryos donated or used for any purpose other than for their own fertility treatments and their own desire to have a child."
I have one word for this: freaky.