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The long-term effects on the health of humanity due to generations of IVF use

Will the long-term effects on the health of humanity due to generations of IVF...

  • ... be fine.

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  • ... be something else. (Elaborate.)

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    2

iwakar

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The Impact of the First Test Tube Baby (Louise Brown)

Concerns about IVF long-term health

Robert George: There’s a health concern, about what, in the long term, physical consequences of IVF conception will be… We all breathed a sigh of relief when Louise Brown was born and was healthy, or at least appeared to be healthy. It seemed at the time as though the concerns that IVF might be risky from a health vantage point had been misplaced. But now that the cohort of children originally conceived by IVF has entered its late twenties and early thirties, the anecdotal evidence is beginning to pile up that there are long-term health consequences, negative health consequences of IVFconceptions. Now, we don’t know whether that can be rigorously demonstrated. As I say, we only have anecdotal evidence. But it’s critically important that we do the studies that will enable us to know whether in fact, over the long term, there are higher rates of disease, morbidity, among children conceived in IVF. It’s very important for the future that potential parents who are contemplating the use of in vitro fertilization know what the potential health risks, if any, are for the children whom they will conceive.

Over the past ten years, I have met more and more people who have had their children with the assistance of IVF. This got me wondering if there would be any long-term detrimental effects to the human species, if those with suboptimal fertility continue to reproduce generations of children sharing their problem? Will this be a non-issue because the hereditary factor is a gamble, not a guarantee? Or will this be a non-issue because the improvement of technology and/or the evolution of our kind will increase in tandem with this growing problem and thus cancel itself out? Or, will this be an issue and we just haven't crossed that bridge yet? Your thoughts.
 

Randomnity

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There don't seem to be any major health problems developing yet, although some of the newer techniques haven't been around long enough to be sure about long-term effects. IVF embryos are usually screened for obvious genetic abnormalities, though, so in that sense they could actually be considered healthier than a naturally-conceived offspring from high-risk parents (older parents, for example). It's hard to know what to compare them to since IVF is far more common in older couples, and older sperm/eggs increases the chances of genetic abnormalities, so you can't really compare them to children conceived by younger parents, and the older you get, the fewer people are able to naturally conceive so there aren't a ton of children in that group to compare to, either.

Some fertility issues can be genetic and therefore I'd guess that IVF babies would be more likely than the average to have fertility problems. If they do, though, it would both be A) likely to be treatable with IVF and B) if not, you're eliminating the problem anyway, right?

Besides, there are tons of other genetic things that are passed on to children and since we don't prevent people with far more serious genetic conditions from having children (whether we should is a separate debate, of course, but most people would probably say we shouldn't), it doesn't make any sense to draw a line at IVF.
 
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The most ethical question this article raises is whether a thread exists calling for analysis of this article or not.
 

Dudesowin

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The most ethical question this poster raises is whether a thread exists calling for analysis of this poster or not.

^--- Keep yelling conspiracy and espousing ones own misunderstanding. Why don't you pull down your pants and throw feces like a proper monkey? No one but us introverted thinkers can ever see that a problem might be a feature or that it might have nothing to do with us and more about the ecology of microscopic life that lives inside us. Can't have that happen though sun revolves around the earth after all! This pile of meaty space dust known as humanity is all we know and all there is out there.

Personally I think it is a horrible idea. You are taking the most sexually dysfunctional and breeding them for maximum insanity! Even if it doesn't impact genetics its bound to be horrible for society and have some influence indirectly.
 

Dudesowin

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Your post makes no sense.

Poster above me tried to derail thread with reanalyzing factual integrity of a non-topic item. Why post to a thread one does not like. Why not google/research your own examples. Its some serious pedantic idiocy. My guess is too soft to handle a grown up conversation such as where babies come from. I get tired of stating the bland and obvious so I tend to make unique memorable metaphors.
 
G

Ginkgo

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Gene expression changes depending on the condition of the womb. As long as we manipulate the nature of an IVF tube, we indirectly perform a sort of eugenics. With some research, we may be able to maximize the chances of causing an "impotent" gene to be recessive.

Uterus conception comes with its own set of health consequences, obviously. So, as long as we create conditions that are virtually the same, if not beneficial - why not?

IMO the line must be drawn somewhere in the issue of eugenics. Little decisions like that will dictate the popularity of the practice.
 
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