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Among them are my own twins.
It’s been a long time since I first went public with my maternity journey. As newlyweds, my husband and I struggled to conceive for three years. After two miscarriages and three failed rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF), I was devastated.
I kept our fight a secret then. I still felt the stigma and silence surrounding infertility. Not knowing how many other people had gone through this, I felt alone.
15 years later, I am relieved that much of that stigma is gone these days. With celebrities like Michelle Obama, Amy Schumer, Gabrielle Union, Brooke Shields and more, the stigma of infertility seems to be slowly disappearing. In addition, American women are giving birth later in life, and LGBTQ+ couples and singles are raising families at an unprecedented rate.
It’s no surprise that assisted reproductive technology (ART) has doubled in the past decade, according to the CDC. There is no doubt that Fertility Field has been a miracle drug for many people, including myself.
For the documentary “CNN Special Report: The Baby Business,” we spoke to amazing people with amazing stories: siblings of donor-conceived babies, an egg donor with 27 known genetic children, and families in crisis. They say it’s the industry’s lack of regulation.
Laura and David Gunner are a couple from upstate New York. In the year In 2020, they lost their 27-year-old son Steven to a fatal opioid overdose after a long battle with schizophrenia and mental health issues. More than a year after his death, they found details about an unknown sperm donor they used in the 1990s. The tragic details of the donor’s life were very similar to their son’s. That sperm donor was also diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was in a mental institution before donating his sperm. He died of an opioid overdose at the age of 46.
Critics of the law, such as Dr. Jaime Shamonky, chief medical officer of California CryoBank, say the new rules and regulations will likely increase costs for excessive procedures, protect donors and generally limit access to fertility drugs. “They can be driven by the cost of producing a sperm vial. Or it puts some small sperm banks out of business, which I think is true with the current shortage of sperm donors in America. It’s bad for families,” says Shamonky.
Introducing Tyra Reeder, a prolific egg donor and surrogate who has shared her extraordinary fertility skills with countless families across the country. By Tira’s count, she has had 14 egg retrieval cycles in seven years at clinics around the country, resulting in hundreds of donated eggs. As a surrogate, she gave birth to three children over six years. Reeder shares her own insider’s and unique perspective on how to improve the breeding industry. She wants to look more into the long-term health risks for egg donors and surrogates.
When I started reporting for this documentary, I had no agenda other than to show the rapid change in patients over the past few years. I also wanted to shed some light on some dark corners of the fertility industry — areas where the consumer experience could be improved. I’ve learned that the massive growth of this complex industry poses some real risks. Our laws and regulatory oversight have not had a chance to catch up with technology. If nothing changes, the ethical challenges will only increase.
Report by CNN Documentary Producer A. Chris Gajilan.
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