Concerns have been raised over the potential impact of the Alabama Supreme Court’s recent ruling that frozen embryos may be regarded as children under state law on in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

The ruling in cases of wrongful death filed by couples whose frozen embryos were accidentally destroyed may expose clinics to legal action and limit patient access.

The University of Alabama in Birmingham hospital stopped IVF procedures on Wednesday as it assessed the relevance of the verdict. Alabama Fertility Services and Mobile Infirmary, IVF clinics, chose to halt portions of their

If a woman is having difficulty becoming pregnant, in vitro fertilization may be able to help. In an effort to conceive, her eggs are taken out and combined with a man’s sperm in a lab dish to form a fertilized embryo, which is subsequently placed into the woman’s uterus.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states that in order to have a healthy pregnancy, in vitro fertilization (IVF) may require multiple cycles. The sperm and eggs used in the treatment can come from a donor or from the couple.

HOW ARE MADE EMBRYOS?
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the procedure frequently involves hormones to induce ovulation, resulting in the production of numerous eggs that are then extracted from the ovaries with a needle.

One way to fertilize eggs is to add sperm to them in a laboratory or inject one sperm into each egg.

“Over a period of time, typically five to six days, we culture that fertilized egg to create developmental stages known as the blastocyst.” And those are either moved or kept for later use “Reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Jason Griffith of Houston explained.