Being a social work student, I find it difficult to digest that not one, but two fertility clinics had storage tank failures recently, resulting in the loss of over 4,000 embryos.
The storage tank at an Ohio clinic had been malfunctioning for weeks prior to failure. Storage tanks at these clinics have alarms that go off when there’s a variance in tank temperature. Officials believe that somebody working there had turned the alarm off beforehand, which is why it did not go off the day the tank failed.
I find this very upsetting. For many people who use these clinics, this is their only hope to have any biological children. The carelessness and neglect on the part of the clinic is unacceptable.
To ensure that families do not have to endure this kind of loss again, all clinics should be making sure that there are preventative measures in place. It is my understanding that there is not much legislature in place to enforce any particular guidelines for these fertility clinics. Ohio Sen. Joe Schiavoni is working with fellow lawmakers on regulatory legislation. I recommend people to call or email their state senators and representatives asking them to do the same.
Laura Corr
Halifax