BABIES IN TUBES

 BY GROUP 1
Flow of presentation

 Objective  Cases and examples

 Market Background  Expectations
 Demand/supply/price  A step ahead
 Ethical issues  Penta policies
 Why leniency in U.S?  Access to information
 Consequences of  Equity
leniency  Legality
 Gray markets  Cost
 Some examples  Parental choice
 Unsolved questions?  Conclusions
 A niche market.  Thank you
 Property rights
Objective

 How to regulate baby trade in

U.S?
Market background
 A Market of - babies ,sperms ,eggs
,hormones ,surrogate mothers (rented
wombs), Embryos.
 Stubbornly high prices, low satisfaction
to customers and Property rights issues.
 Presently a $3 billion industry.
 2001 data,U.S.,41000 ivf children,6000
through donated egg,600 surrogate.
Demand/supply/Price
 Demand – Continuous Requirement
because of persistent existence of
disorder but comparatively lower (1% of
infertile women).
 Supply – Steadily increasing because of
increasing supply of new ways to produce
with the help of new technology by
fertility clinics and drug companies ,but
with lesser supply of donors and
surrogates.
 Price - Very high because of unregulated
Markets and insurmountable desire of
rich people to have babies.
Ethical issues
 Selling love
 Selling honour
 Unnatural
 Violation of
basic Rules
 Degradation of
humans
Why leniency in us
 Laissez faire policy of U.S
 U.S govt. loath to constrain high
growth and technology markets
 Deregulated Economy
 Politicians fear losing their
position.
 Previous Experience with abortion
issue.
 Fear of religious and ethical
enragement.
Consequences of leniency
 No national policy on ivf
issues.
 No policy for genetic
engineering and parental
control.
 No pre-implantation diagnosis
of signs of genetic disorders in
embryo.
 Spiraling prices.
Gray markets
(Because of irregularities and loops in system)

 Inconsistencies in laws for various

states.
 Growth of illicit providers
 People involved in legalities.
 People taking medical risks.
Some examples
 U.S – confusion–Deregulated.
 U.K - streamlined -Optimally
regulated
 Israel - openness (incentives)-
promotes ivf and reimburse and
gives incentive till you produce 2
children.
 Germany- Restrictive –restriction
on any such activity
Unsolved questions
 Should there be an age limit on fertility
treatments? (Most profitable customers are least
likely to conceive, e.g. age-65)
 Should the new procedures be subjected to
rigorous testing protocols?
 Multiple births intended to increase likelihood of
viability ,be intended or controlled.
 Who will be responsible for a severely deformed
child.
 Who has the right to create,dispose,implant &
export embryo?
 What are the guidelines governing these systems
and who will bear the negative consequences.
A niche market
(Unlikely to expand beyond a certain set of
customers)

 U.S –Large market-1% of infertile women. (less

welfare)
 Denmark-Low price and regulations-(3-9%of
infertile women).
 Other demands-
 1)Extended fertility (freezing the eggs) for late marriage or
prolonged careers.
 2)Homosexuals-(combining the traits).
 Requirements-lower prices ,wide access,
established rules, safer and equitable industry
norms ,non-interference with scientific
progressions ,shift from rich to masses.
Property rights
(provides clarity to confusion)

 Who owns the embryo,sperms and

eggs?
 Is embryo a human or a property?
 Do frozen embryos have right to be
born or not to be?
 What are the rights and responsibilities
of the donors, surrogates..?
 If three mothers are there –Egg donor,
surrogate & intended mother-how does
the court decide their rights.
Cases and examples
 Case1-2003,A firefighter (won)
sued a clinic for implanting embryo
in his ex-wife, against his
objections, which they had
previously produced.
 Case2-2005,A couple sued a clinic
for discarding embryo frozen 5
year earlier, alleging that clinic
killed their child.
(still going).
Expectations
 Donors and surrogates can decide
beforehand
 A mandatory waiting period after
the child birth to birthmother
 Set limits of market where
sperms,eggs etc. are sold.
 Compensation for surrogacy
 Parenting rights which cannot be
sold
A step ahead (Decision on
-)
 Present case- which is only on adhoc
basis- because of different laws in
different states, courts & financial
position of individual.
 Major questions-
 How much parents can control their
child’s genes?
 What part of conception, society pay
for?
Penta policies
 Access to
information
 Equity
 Legality
 Cost
 Parental choice
Access to information
 The people should be made
aware about-1)cost & benefits
2)potential dangers 3)health &
safety
 Government should commission
additional studies for long term
risks and periodic reporting by
clinic
-1992,fertility clinic success rate &
certification act.
Equity
(Aim is to relieve a messy situation)

 Homogenous and equitable distribution in

basic requirements from rich to poor…for
e.g. infertility.
S demand policy/ distribution
.no
1 Pregnancy Subsidize/reimburse/assi
st
2 Two No need to cover third
parent’s party sperms or eggs.
genes
3 A chance Prefer adoption over
at fertility
 Legality
(what is legitimate & illegitimate)

 Necessary limits on parenthood and

technology misuse. like.---
 Cloning for reproductive purposes (creating
many embryos and then most of them dies.)
 Cytoplasm transfer-older women gets
donors cytoplasm to refresh its eggs.
 Selling of children by birth mothers
Cost
(cost paid by societies)

 Cost to societies-
 When multiple pregnancies are there the cost of ivf
birth increases exponentially borne by taxpayers money

 Cost to children-
 1) Most ivt or icsi leads to multiple pregnancy(35%)
 2)Children in these cases are mostly underweight
(health issue).

This can only be tackled by putting a limit on

number of implanted embryos during ivf
Parental choice
(should address the following issues)

 Is it the right time and age?

 Should I create a second child who
could save the life of the first child
suffering from leukemia?
 Am I too old/sick/single?
 Manipulation of gene pool to what
extent?
 Would the child be a youngster
orphaned by elderly parents?
Conclusion
 U.S markets Are deregulated in
baby trade.
 Regulations are a necessity which
can only be achieved through
societal responsiveness.
 This can only lead to a better and
more equitable market
Thank you