SPUC expresses sorrow and concern at IVF errors

London, 28 October 2002--SPUC has expressed its sorrow and concern at reports of mistakes made during in vitro fertilisation at a London fertility clinic.

Paul Tully, SPUC's general secretary, said: "Here we have yet another instance of human life being treated as a mere commodity - another substance on the laboratory bench. These tragic mistakes don't just mean that parents will be upset and disappointed. They will also mean that young, innocent human lives will have been disposed of as if they were worthless.

"In vitro fertilisation invariably means that embryos are deliberately discarded during a degrading sorting-out process. In this particular case, mistakes appear to have been made during this process which only adds to the tragedy.

"It's not just a matter of getting the IVF industry to clean up its act and improve its administration. This type of fertility treatment needs to be completely replaced by ethical ways of helping childless couples - ways which don't involve wasting human life, whether deliberately or by accident."

Errors at St George's Hospital, Tooting, in April meant that the embryos were inappropriately implanted in two women. After the mistakes had been discovered, steps were taken to prevent the embryos from growing in the womb.