On Sunday, Live Action reported a study from April that you might have missed:
Live Action's report looks at data provided by the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART), which operates under the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, showing that 2.6% of all births in the United States were the result of IVF as of 2023.
While families welcomed 95,860 beautiful babies in 2023 as a result of advancements in IVF technology, tragically, millions of their siblings died during the process.
Live Action summarized the findings:
In 2023, there were 432,641 IVF cycles at 371 reporting clinics, but only 95,860 babies were born.
That year, an estimated 1,946,884 embryos did not survive to be implanted, and another 1,759,664 were either frozen, destroyed, donated to research, or released for embryo adoption.
By comparison, there were 1,037,880 abortions in the US that year, according to abortion institute Guttmacher.
Contrary to abortion, the goal of IVF is to create a life rather than destroy one, yet in order to accomplish that goal, the IVF industry requires the creation of embryos that parents have no intention of ever implanting or carrying to term.
More from Live Action:
Here's how those numbers break down. Up to half of the original 3,893,769, likely did not survive beyond the next two stages: the blastocyst stage and the genetic testing stage. The embryos were graded and labeled during testing, and those not deemed healthy enough were automatically destroyed.
That's about 1,946,884 embryos who died or were deliberately killed without being given a chance to be implanted.
Of the remaining estimate of 1,946,884, SART states that 91,360 were automatically 'banked' for 'future use,' as was the parents' plan when they began the process. We also know that after being graded, labeled, selected, and transferred, only 95,860 survived to birth.
That leaves 1,759,664 human embryos unaccounted for. They survived to the blastocyst stage and passed genetic testing, but they were then either miscarried, destroyed, donated to researchers (and ultimately destroyed), released for embryo adoption (just 1-6%), or are frozen indefinitely.
Some states are beginning to change their policies based on the scientific and moral issues surrounding IVF, like Alabama last year.
Others, however, like the Trump administration, have been pushing for more IVF, drawing criticism during the first year of his second term.
The question remains:
Are we happily supporting the destruction of some embryos while defending the right to life for others?
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