What does in vitro fertilization have to do with stem cell research?
In vitro fertilization is the process whereby sperm are encouraged to fertilize human eggs in an artificial environment such as a test tube or Petri dish. In vitro can be translated to mean "in glass." Because of the inherent failure rate of this process, many embryos are created, but only a few are chosen to be implanted into a mother's womb. Those that are not implanted are frozen indefinitely and retained in IVF clinics.
The Rand Institute estimated there are approximately 400,000 frozen human embryos in existence today but only a fraction of these embryos would be eligible for research use (http://www.stemcellresearch.org/facts/2004-06-11.htm)
Some scientists and others claim that these embryos will be "thrown away anyway" so why not use them for research?
Because two wrongs don't make a right. Just because some human beings are going to die, doesn’t give others a right to kill. But it is not necessarily true that these embryos must be "thrown away." There are organizations dedicated to promoting and facilitating embryo adoption for couples who wish to love and raise children and at the same time save these tiny human beings from certain death.(http://www.nightlight.org/snowflakeslanding.asp)
