Fertility and Sterility
Volume 89, Issue 3 , Pages 523-528 , March 2008

Researching human oocyte cryopreservation: ethical issues

  • Inmaculada de Melo-Martin, Ph.D.

      Affiliations

    • Division of Medical Ethics, Department of Public Health, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: Inmaculada de Melo-Martin, Ph.D., Division of Medical Ethics, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 411 East 69th Street, New York, NY 10021 (FAX: 212-746-8544).
    • ,
  • Ina N. Cholst, M.D.

      Affiliations

    • Departments of Reproductive Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York

Received 22 August 2006 ,Revised 9 March 2007 ,Accepted 13 March 2007.

References 

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2003 Assisted Reproductive Technology Success Rates. Atlanta: CDC; 2005;
  2. ESHRE. Assisted reproductive technology in Europe, 2002. Results generated from European registers by ESHRE. Hum Reprod. 2006;21:1680–1697
  3. Van Voorhis BJ. Outcomes from assisted reproductive technology. Obstet Gynecol. 2006;107:183–200
  4. Wright VC, Schieve LA, Reynolds MA, Jeng G. Division of Reproductive Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Assisted reproductive technology surveillance—United States, 2002. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2005;54:1–24
  5. Gosden LV, Yin H. Micromanipulation in assisted reproductive technology: intracytoplasmic sperm injection, assisted hatching, and preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2006;49:73–84
  6. Tan BK, Vandekerckhove P, Kennedy R, Keay SD. Investigation and current management of recurrent IVF treatment failure in the UK. BJOG. 2005;112:773–780
  7. El-Toukhy T, Taranissi M. Towards better quality research in recurrent implantation failure: standardizing its definition is the first step. Reprod Biomed Online. 2006;12:383–385
  8. Urman B, Yakin K, Balaban B. Recurrent implantation failure in assisted reproduction: how to counsel and manage. B. Treatment options that have not been proven to benefit the couple. Reprod Biomed Online. 2005;11:382–389
  9. Lobo RA. Potential options for preservation of fertility in women. N Engl J Med. 2005;353:64–73
  10. Shahine LK, Cedars MI. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis does not increase pregnancy rates in patients at risk for aneuploidy. Fertil Steril. 2006;85:51–56
  11. Save my eggs, http://www.savemyeggs.com/the-freezing-of-human-oocytes-eggs.html; Extend Fertility, http://www.extendfertility.com; West Coast Fertility Centers, http://www.eggfreezing.com/egg_freezing.htm.
  12. American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). Ovarian tissue and oocyte cryopreservation. Fertil Steril. 2004;82:993–998
  13. Miller FG, Brody H. A critique of clinical equipoise. Therapeutic misconception in the ethics of clinical trials. Hastings Cent Rep. 2003;33:19–28
  14. Brody H, Miller FG. The clinician–investigator: unavoidable but manageable tension. Kennedy Inst Ethics J. 2003;13:329–346
  15. Lidz CW. The therapeutic misconception and our models of competency and informed consent. Behav Sci Law. 2006;24:535–546
  16. Emanuel EJ, Wendler D, Grady C. What makes clinical research ethical?. JAMA. 2000;283:2701–2711
  17. Chen C. Pregnancy after human oocyte cryopreservation. Lancet. 1986;1:884–886
  18. Coticchio G, Bonu MA, Borini A, Flamigni C. Oocyte cryopreservation: a biological perspective. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2004;115:S2–S7
  19. Lucena E, Bernal DP, Lucena C, Rojas A, Moran A, Lucena A. Successful ongoing pregnancies after vitrification of oocytes. Fertil Steril. 2006;85:108–111
  20. Levi Setti PE, Albani E, Novara PV, Cesana A, Morreale G. Cryopreservation of supernumerary oocytes in IVF/ICSI cycles. Hum Reprod. 2006;21:370–375
  21. Chen SU, Lien YR, Chen HF, Chang LJ, Tsai YY, Yang YS. Observational clinical follow-up of oocyte cryopreservation using a slow-freezing method with 1,2-propanediol plus sucrose followed by ICSI. Hum Reprod. 2005;20:1975–1980
  22. Fosas N, Marina F, Torres PJ, Jove I, Martin P, Perez N, et al. The births of five Spanish babies from cryopreserved donated oocytes. Hum Reprod. 2003;18:1417–1421
  23. Yang D, Winslow KL, Blohm PL, Brown SE, Nguyen K, Brubaker C. Oocyte donation using cryopreserved donor oocytes. Fertil Steril. 2002;78:S14–S15
  24. Boldt J, Cline D, McLaughlin D. Human oocyte cryopreservation as an adjunct to IVF–embryo transfer cycles. Hum Reprod. 2003;18:1250–1255
  25. Quintans CJ, Donaldson MJ, Bertolino MV, Pasqualini RS. Birth of two babies using oocytes that were cryopreserved in a choline-based freezing medium. Hum Reprod. 2002;17:3149–3152
  26. Winslow K, Yang D, Blohm P, Brown S, Jossim P, Nguyen K. Oocyte cryopreservation: a three year follow up of sixteen births. Fertil Steril. 2001;76:S120
  27. Porcu E, Fabbri R, Damiano G, Giunchi S, Fratto R, Ciotti PM, et al. Clinical experience and applications of oocyte cryopreservation. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2000;169:33–37
  28. Kim SS. Fertility preservation in female cancer patients: current developments and future directions. Fertil Steril. 2006;85:1–11
  29. Jemal A, Clegg LX, Ward E, Ries LA, Wu X, Jamison PM, et al. Annual report to the nation on the status of cancer, 1975–2001, with a special feature regarding survival. Cancer. 2004;101:3–27
  30. Blatt J. Pregnancy outcome in long-term survivors of childhood cancer. Med Pediatr Oncol. 2003;33:29–33
  31. Simon B, Lee SJ, Partridge AH, Runowicz CD. Preserving fertility after cancer. CA Cancer J Clin. 2005;55:211–228
  32. Shamonki MI, Oktay K. Oocyte and ovarian tissue cryopreservation: indications, techniques, and applications. Semin Reprod Med. 2005;23:266–276
  33. Lockwood G. Politics, ethics and economics: oocyte cryopreservation in the UK. Reprod Biomed Online. 2003;6:151–153
  34. Borini A, Sciajno R, Bianchi V, Sereni E, Flamigni C, Coticchio G. Clinical outcome of oocyte cryopreservation after slow cooling with a protocol utilizing a high sucrose concentration. Hum Reprod. 2006;21:512–517
  35. Lee SJ, Schover LR, Partridge AH, Patrizio P, Wallace WH, Hagerty K, et al. American Society of Clinical Oncology Recommendations on Fertility Preservation in Cancer Patients. J Clin Oncol. 2006;24:2917–2931
  36. FIGO Committee for the Ethical Aspects of Human Reproduction and Women's Health. Ethical considerations and recommendations on oocyte and ovarian cryopreservation. FIGO Committee for the Ethical Aspects of Human Reproduction and Women's Health. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2006;92:335–336
  37. National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. (NCPHSBBR). The Belmont Report. Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research. Washington, DC: DHHS; 1979;
  38. ICH Harmonised Tripartite Guideline. Guideline for good clinical practice. J Postgrad Med. 2002;47:121–130
  39. Dudzinski DM. Ethical issues in fertility preservation for adolescent cancer survivors: oocyte and ovarian tissue cryopreservation. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2004;17:97–102
  40. Nurgat ZA, Craig W, Campbell NC, Bissett JD, Cassidy J, Nicolson MC. Patient motivations surrounding participation in phase I and phase II clinical trials of cancer chemotherapy. Br J Cancer. 2005;92:1001–1005
  41. Schutta KM, Burnett CB. Factors that influence a patient's decision to participate in a phase I cancer clinical trial. Oncol Nurs Forum. 2000;27:1435–1438
  42. Edwards SJ, Lilford RJ, Hewison J. The ethics of randomised controlled trials from the perspectives of patients, the public, and healthcare professionals. BMJ. 1998;317:1209–1212
  43. Appelbaum PS, Lidz CW, Grisso T. Therapeutic misconception in clinical research: frequency and risk factors. IRB. 2004;26:1–8
  44. Daugherty CK, Banik DM, Janish L, Ratain MJ. Quantitative analysis of ethical issues in phase I trials: a survey interview of 144 advanced cancer patients. IRB. 2000;22:6–14
  45. Glannon W. Phase I oncology trials: why the therapeutic misconception will not go away. J Med Ethics. 2006;32:252–255
  46. Zaner R. Trust and the patient–physician relationship. In:  Pellegrino E,  Veatch R,  Langan J editor. Ethics, trust, and the professions: philosophical and cultural aspects. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press; 1991;p. 45–57
  47. Miller FG, Rosenstein DL. The therapeutic orientation to clinical trials. New Engl J Med. 2003;348:1383–1386
  48. Fried E. The therapeutic misconception, beneficence, and respect. Account Res. 2001;8:331–348
  49. Lidz CW, Appelbaum PS, Grisso T, Renaud M. Therapeutic misconception and the appreciation of risks in clinical trials. Soc Sci Med. 2004;58:1689–1697
  50. Boggio A. Italy enacts new law on medically assisted reproduction. Hum Reprod. 2005;20:1153–1157

PII: S0015-0282(07)00658-9

doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.03.039

Fertility and Sterility
Volume 89, Issue 3 , Pages 523-528 , March 2008

Article Tools