A few years ago, I sat on a BBC Breakfast sofa and debated human embryo experimentation with a lady who was the Chief Scientific Officer for a group of IVF laboratories. We argued about whether experimentation on “spare” human embryos could be morally justified and whether the law should abolish the 14-day rule restricting such experiments to the first two weeks of life.
After we had made our respective points and with the cameras off, we chatted in the Green Room. She told me that she was conflicted about my position that the early embryo possessed the same kind of moral worth as older human beings, but that she had to admit that she often had to deal with IVF parents who wanted to bury their embryonic children: such requests, she explained, put great emotional strain on her and on her staff.
