Making babies one at a time: When two is a crowd 

The Event

On April 19, 2010, Novel Tech Ethics hosted a CIHR Cafe Scientifique at Just Us Café on Spring Garden Road entitled “Making Babies One at a Time: When Two is a Crowd”.

There is considerable debate over how much control infertility patients should have over the use of reproductive technologies, and whether patients and providers are paying sufficient attention to the interests of children born of these technologies. In light of two recent high-profile cases in North America, cafe participants explored the following ethical issues surrounding infertility treatments:

Should there be medical or legal limits on the number of embryos transferred during each in vitro fertilization cycle? In January 2009, Nadya Suleman, an unemployed single American mother on public assistance gave birth to octuplets after insisting that her fertility doctor transfer six frozen embryos to her in one IVF cycle. Ms. Suleman was already the mother of six children conceived through previous IVF treatments.

How old is too old for motherhood? In February of 2009, Ranjit Hayer,a 60-year old Canadian woman, gave birth to premature twins following IVF treatment in India. While her travel expenses and the cost of the IVF treatment was paid for by Mrs. Hayer and her 60- year old husband, she returned to Canada to receive comprehensive obstetrical care, paid for out of the public purse.

Panelists

Francoise Baylis is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Academy of Health Sciences.  Professor Baylis has published extensively on ethical issues relevant to womens' reproductive health, embryonic research, and novel technologies. Dr. Baylis is the founding member of Novel Tech Ethics.

David Young is a practicing physician at Atlantic Assisted Reproductive Therapies (AART) in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His present practice includes IVF, clinical obstetrics, fetal assessment via ultrasound, and invasive fetal diagnosis and therapy.

Carolyn McLeod's research and teaching are in health care ethics, moral philosophy, and feminist philosophy. She is the author of Self-Trust and Reproductive Autonomy (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2002) and a former patient of IUI (intrauterine insemination) and of IVF.

A Café Scientifique is not a lecture. It’s a place for group discussion and audience involvement is the most important ingredient. This event was moderated by a member of the Novel Tech Ethics Team, Susan Sherwin, Professor Emerita at Dalhousie University and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

View the Event Poster

Media Coverage

The event was advertised in the Chronicle Herald, a local newspaper. Click below for more information:

Making Babies One at a Time: The Chronicle Herald 

Both Dr. Baylis and Dr. Young were also interviewed on the radio program “Information Morning” on CBC Radio One, found online by clicking the link below:

Making Babies One at a Time: Information Morning 

Attendance

The event drew a wide variety of people from all age groups. Below are charts detailing the age and gender composition of the audience that night.