The Fertility Dilemma: Legal Battles and the Emotional Toll of Infertility
The mental burden of infertility is widely known, and individuals who are trying to start a family feel it intensely. Recent cases, such as the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that frozen embryos are legally children and that those handling the embryos may be held civilly or criminally liable for their destruction, have perplexed many in the medical and scientific assisted reproductive technology (ART) communities, and the nearly one in every six people experiencing infertility.
Since the verdict, Alabama lawmakers have introduced proposals to preserve IVF therapy, but with no current legal protections for IVF, the issue remains: where does this leave the millions of people suffering from infertility today, not just in Alabama, but across the country?
According to a statement published by RESOLVE, the National Infertility Association, “85 percent of adults support increasing access to fertility treatments.” However, access to IVF will only reduce if erroneous rules trump medical best practices; this safe and vital service will become more expensive and harmful for individuals already bearing the financial, physical, and emotional burden of infertility.”
Infertility Is A Disease
According to the World Health Organization, infertility is a condition of the male or female reproductive system that affects millions of people of reproductive age around the world. Infertility can be caused by a variety of reasons, including ovulatory problems and endometriosis, which affect both men and women.
A wide range of people seek medical help for infertility, from same-sex couples looking for a biological connection to single people seeking to realize their ambition of starting a family. Cancer survivors, like individuals with a variety of other medical illnesses, seek medical aid to start families.
Assisted reproduction technology (ART), such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), has been used to treat this disease for almost three decades, with more than 5 million children born worldwide as a result of ART operations. Those suffering from this ailment are now realizing that getting the care they need to treat infertility and start a family may be considered criminal.
The Psychological Impact of Infertility Treatment
Navigating infertility is a difficult path that affects all aspects of life: physical, emotional, social, and economic. This challenge has a significant weight. Receiving the diagnosis and fighting the ongoing uphill battle can also have psychological implications such as sadness, anxiety, rage, grief, remorse, helplessness, and loneliness. (Pasch et al. 2016, Ramezanzadeh et al. 2004; Rooney et al. 2018).
Infertility is viewed as a difficult life crisis, comparable to cancer, AIDS, and other fatal diseases. (A. Domar et al., 1993). Infertility can also have long-term implications on a person’s self-esteem and interpersonal relationships. According to Vaughan et al. (2020), even throughout the COVID-19 outbreak in the Boston area, infertility remained the leading stressor identified by research participants.
Relationship With an Embryo is Personal
Whether considered as a symbol of a relationship, a future offspring, or simply a collection of cells, embryos have a very personal importance. Given the complexities of people’s fertility journeys, it is critical to realize the tremendous emotions that might develop when the fate of these embryos is threatened.
Until federal protections allowing for the freedom to establish families are in place, persons experiencing infertility will face even greater anguish, guilt, and powerlessness than before. That is why it is critical to acknowledge and validate those affected’s emotions, as well as provide them the freedom to define their reproductive journey in the face of uncertainty.