{"id":1616,"date":"2024-02-27T15:24:09","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T15:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/27\/in-alabama-patients-are-praying-for-a-change-of-heart-on-access-to-ivf\/"},"modified":"2024-02-27T15:24:09","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T15:24:09","slug":"in-alabama-patients-are-praying-for-a-change-of-heart-on-access-to-ivf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyretirementnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/27\/in-alabama-patients-are-praying-for-a-change-of-heart-on-access-to-ivf\/","title":{"rendered":"In Alabama, patients are praying for a change of heart on access to IVF"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After two years of trying to have a baby, <\/strong>Paula Jean Hardin and her husband, Wes, were finally on their way to starting in vitro fertilization, a path to growing their family that Hardin believed was part of a plan from God. <\/p>\n

But a new state Supreme Court decision, which rested partly on beliefs Hardin said she shares, has suddenly led some fertility clinics in Alabama to pause their services, putting her dreams \u2013 and those of many other families in Alabama \u2013 on hold. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just frustrating, and it\u2019s sad, and it\u2019s heartbreaking,\u201d Hardin said Thursday, the same day her clinic, Alabama Fertility Specialists, said it was temporarily stopping in vitro fertilization, or IVF, treatments <\/strong>because of legal risk. <\/p>\n

The court\u2019s February 16 decision, which declared that frozen embryos are children under the state\u2019s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, rested in part on the belief that \u201clife begins at fertilization,\u201d Justice Jay Mitchell wrote in the majority opinion. In a concurring opinion, Chief Justice Tom Parker wrote that \u201chuman life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God\u201d and quoted from the Bible. <\/p>\n

Hardin, a 36-year-old pre-K teacher in Tuscaloosa, said the belief that life begins at conception is an important part of her faith as well, but she emphasized that she didn\u2019t believe it was inconsistent with IVF. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am a huge follower of Jesus,\u201d said Hardin, who leads a group at her church for people who\u2019ve had fertility issues. \u201cI am for sure pro-life \u2013 like, I think it happens at conception \u2013 but I also don\u2019t think that if we were to do IVF and it failed the first time \u2013 because sometimes it just doesn\u2019t take \u2013 then that would make me a murderer or that would make the doctor part of a homicide. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t get that,\u201d she said, \u201cand I don\u2019t see how they even get that.\u201d <\/p>\n

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IVF involves fertilizing human eggs in a lab and often the creation of multiple embryos, with the goal of transferring to the uterus the one with the best chance of growing into a baby. The process often creates more embryos than can be used immediately. Those embryos are kept frozen in storage until they\u2019re transferred in hopes of leading to a new pregnancy, or donated or discarded. <\/p>\n

But with the ruling that those frozen embryos are children, Hardin\u2019s clinic \u2013 along with two others in the state, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Center for Reproductive Medicine \u2013 said they would pause IVF treatments. <\/p>\n

The legal limbo has drawn the members of Hardin\u2019s church group to lean on each other even more, she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason why this small group was started is because there were a lot of people going through fertility issues that go through it on their own, and they don\u2019t talk about it,\u201d Hardin said. \u201cWe\u2019re clinging to each other right now.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lauren Pleitz, another member of the group, was hoping she was finally about to undergo embryo transfer when the clinics paused IVF treatments. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have already had so much heartbreak,\u201d Pleitz said. \u201cIt just really feels like we\u2019re being punished right now for being infertile.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pleitz, 35, who has endometriosis, which can make it harder to get pregnant, has been dealing with infertility for three years, she said. In July, she and her husband started the process for IVF, going through egg retrieval and freezing embryos, before she had hip surgery for a genetic condition. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt has definitely been a very long, treacherous journey,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Hardin and Pleitz said their hopes rest now on state legislation that would provide protection for IVF by making clear that embryos aren\u2019t considered human beings before they\u2019re implanted in a uterus. <\/p>\n

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    \u201cThat\u2019s our hope, that this bill will go through, hopefully very quickly, and we can just continue moving on with our plan as we were getting ready to do,\u201d Pleitz said. \u201cI believe that an embryo is going to need a uterus to really become a child.\u201d <\/p>\n

    Otherwise, both said, they might look to have IVF out of state, although Hardin noted that her family\u2019s insurance wouldn\u2019t cover the multithousand-dollar cost if she did. <\/p>\n

    She\u2019s relying on her faith for guidance, she said, quoting a passage from the Bible. <\/p>\n

    \u201cRomans 8:28 says that God works all things out for the good, and I think good is going come from this, but it\u2019s sad that we have to fight for our rights to have a family,\u201d she said. As a pre-K teacher, she said, \u201cI love kids, and I love babies, and I want my own.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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