Academic Journal
Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Fertility
Article Date: 19 Nov 2011 - 0:00 PST
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Does pregnancy start at conception - when the sperm fertilizes the egg? Or does it begin one week later when the embryo implants in the uterus? According to a survey carried out by researchers from the University of Chicago and published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, not even doctors appear to agree.
Dr. Farr A. Curlin and team set out to determine what Ob/Gyns (obstetrician-gynecologists) thought regarding the beginning of pregnancy. They also wanted to know what measure characteristics were linked to the belief that pregnancy started at implantation instead of conception.
The researchers posted a questionnaire to 1,800 Ob-Gyns in the USA, all of them practicing their profession at that time. Their main focus was when they thought pregnancy started.
The questionnaire gave the following response options: At conception (the union of the sperm and the egg, also known as fertilization)When the embryo is implanted in the uterusNot sureThe authors wrote that:
"Primary predictors were religious affiliation, importance of religion, and having a moral objection to abortion."
Below are some highlighted data from their findings: 66% (1154) of the doctors responded to the questionnaire57% answered - at conception28% answered - at implantation16% answered - not sureA higher percentage of religious doctors responded "at conception", as did those who were against abortion.
In an abstract in the journal, the authors concluded:
"Obstetrician-gynecologists' beliefs about when pregnancy begins appear to be shaped significantly by whether they object to abortion and by the importance of religion in their lives."
Written by Christian Nordqvist
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
Grace S. Chunge, Ryan E. Lawrence, MD, Kenneth A. Rasinski, PhD, John D. Yoon, MD, Farr A. Curlin, MD
American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. November 2011. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2011.10.877 Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:
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9 Dec. 2011.
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
posted by Ryszard Chetkowski, MD on 18 Nov 2011 at 11:57 pm
If 66% of Ob-Gyns believe that pregnancy starts at fertilization (conception), then test tubes and petri dishes are pregnant after in vitro fertilization before embryos are transferred into the uterus.
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posted by Jennifer on 21 Nov 2011 at 12:28 pm
No, it means that OB Gyn's believe it is a baby and not cells in the test tube/petri dishes. Doctors are taught when conception is in medical school, are they not? (Conception is when the sperm and egg dance) Or is is dependent on you religion?
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posted by laura j. on 22 Nov 2011 at 11:37 am
One could say that in vitro does not create life because the embryo can not live outside the host, however, that would lead to the question of whether we are supposed to be the ones fertilizing the egg in a petri dish to begin with. Without in vitro there would be no such thing as an embryo without a host (hence all naturally fertilized eggs do imply life and pregnancy...but not their in vitro/artificial counterparts).
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posted by Jennifer on 23 Nov 2011 at 12:17 pm
Should we be fertilizing all of the eggs removed for IVF procedures? If a patient has 20+eggs and all of those eggs are fertilized, what happens next? Without a host they are in limbo and this is a morally complex situation for the patient. Especially if the patient believes life begins at conception, as I do. Should Fertility Specialists be creating all of these babies(embryos) that will never have a home/host?
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