Homepage > Health
Related To Story
Jennalee Ryan of Abraham Center of Life

Embryo Broker Criticized For Business Venture

POSTED: 8:03 am CST January 11, 2007
UPDATED: 8:19 am CST January 11, 2007

Jennalee Ryan said she is taking the next logical step in reproductive medicine.

Ryan, founder of Abraham's Center of Life, is offering infertile couples a chance to conceive and carry a child who will have the genetic material of the couple's choosing.

"Every parent wants a smart, pretty baby," Ryan said in an interview with KSAT 12 News.

Ryan is offering embryos that have the sperm provided by men with doctorate degrees and eggs donated by young, attractive, college-educated women.

"When you look for donors, we're going to be looking for the best odds," Ryan said.

But some people claim that Ryan is playing God by offering what critics claim are designer babies.

"When you require some degree of college education from egg donors and college degrees from sperm donors, it's very difficult to get away from the argument that you're involved with eugenics, and designer babies," said Dr. Thomas Pool of the Fertility Center Of San Antonio.

Pool said that infertile couples have other options besides the one that Ryan offers.

"Most couples can achieve success when they seek infertility therapy," Pool said. "They do not need to go to these sorts of means to do that."

While Ryan is offering parents hope for a baby of their choosing, she stressed that there is no way to predict what the baby will look like.

"We don't know what color of eyes and hair our embryos are going to have," Ryan said. "(The embryos are) already created. We can't go back and change hair and eye coloring. That's ridiculous to even use the term (designer baby)."

Ryan said that her embryos have a 70 percent success rate of pregnancy compared to 20 percent with a previously frozen embryo.

She offers her embryos at $8,000, while frozen embryos go for thousands more, Ryan claimed.

Two women who have been impregnated with Ryan's embryos and are due to deliver in March, she said.

Links We Like
Sponsored Content
Gastrointestinal ailments – whether temporary or chronic – can be unbearable. Learn how to recognize symptoms and treat digestive woes. More

Decorating your home for Christmas should be fun and enjoyable. Learn how to keep it that way and avoid the holiday stress. More

Find out what a sputtering economy and an increasingly difficult to crack job market means to you. More

A little healthy competition between partners is fine, even healthy. But cross the line and you could doom your relationship. More

Don’t be left out. Make the switch to Digital TV.

Sponsored Links

Power Search
 

Health Topics & Information

An alarming number of people live with pain. Whether yours is chronic or acute, we can help you make it stop. Get pain management tips here! More

Health Insurance Quotes

NetQuote
Looking for ways to reduce health care costs? Start saving in just six minutes! Fast, Free, Secure Quotes. Compare now.


E-Mail News Alerts
Get breaking news and daily headlines.
Browse all e-mail newsletters