GIFT And Some Infertility Answers

Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT) is being usedtechnology that has out distanced the ability of the
when traditional infertility therapies are unsuccessful,learned professions and society at large to keep
especially in cases of endometriosis, low spermpace with its consequences.The hullabaloo over
counts and unexplained infertility. The first pregnancy"surrogate" motherhood triggered by the "Baby M"
using the GIFT technique occurred in 1985 and in thecase continues to resonate in courts of law and
year that followed, patients having the procedurelegislatures. Fertility clinics are making money by
increased from forty seven to four hundredmaking it possible for couples to make babies not
nineteen.According to the IVF Registry, the overallonly by providing sperm banks, but since 1990, by
clinical pregnancy rate in 1987 for IVF was sixteenproviding donor eggs. Donors of both sexes are
percent, while the rate for GIFT was twenty-fiveforcing medical ethicists as well sociologists and jurists
percent. A recent report by the American Fertilityto confront the question not only of who is the
Society puts the success rate at 26.6 percent. Abiological parent and what are the rights of that
variation of the GIFT technique, known as ZIFT (theparent, but also of how a "family" and identity itself
Z stands for zygote) transfers the newly fertilizedare to be defined. The normal life cycle of women
egg, or zygote, into the fallopian tube byhas become a matter of government involvement
laparoscopy, usually within twenty-four hours afterfollowing the successful pregnancies of women in
fertilization has taken place in the laboratory.Althoughtheir late fifties. An international furor yet to be
there have been major advances in solving some ofresolved was triggered by the announcement of a
the problems of infertility, much more is yet to beresearcher in Scotland that it would soon be feasible
learned. There are still couples whose infertility isfor infertile women to be implanted with the ovaries
unexplained and there are couples with known causestaken from aborted fetuses.When scientists effect
of infertility that cannot be cured. In addition,major changes, they are rarely expected to take
advances in technology have given rise to problemsresponsibility for the unforeseen results of their work.
that concern hospitals and neonatologists whoAmericans have a difficult time confronting the fact
specialize in premature babies. Multiple births resultingthat "progress" always has its price, that everything
from IVF and GIFT are common and when twins,has the defects of its virtues. For the infertile couples
triplets and even quadruplets arrive early, the costswho achieve parenthood because of unanticipated
for assuring their well-being can be extremelyadvances in the technology of reproduction, these
high.Approximately twenty years ago, the birth ofadvances have been a blessing. Whether they have
the first "test tube" baby was hailed as a miracle.been an unmixed blessing for society at large will be
Since that time, in vitro fertilization has become andecided in the legislative bodies and law courts, which
accepted means of treatment throughout thereflect the changing attitudes of the general
Western world. In retrospect, it turns out that thispopulation on how families are created.
procedure ushered in a new era of reproductive