CNN’s 'The Baby Business' Scratches Surface, Pushes Fertility Regulation
The show, while perhaps frequently focusing on the negative, was not merely a scathing expose of critical family-building tools.
I nervously watched the promotions for CNN’s documentary-style program “Special Report: The Baby Business,” which premiered Monday, September 5, as they included an interviewee stating that “there are more protections for you when you go and buy a puppy” than when you undergo fertility treatment. Yikes!
I, of course, tuned in, foremost, to see and support my sister, Jennifer White, the director of Bright Futures Families and a co-founder of Reproductive Alliance. The latter organization is a nascent, nongovernmental credentialing organization for surrogacy agencies. Reproductive Alliance got a nice shout out in the prime-time cameo. Secondly, I watched to see the kind of picture being painted of the fertility industry, which is a specialized area of business that brings hope and fulfills dreams for so many. At the same time, of course, my readers know that fertility law involves enough drama to rival any episode of the “Real Housewives.”
In general, I appreciated the special report. Of course, my sister rocked it. But apart from her short clip, the show painted a picture of assisted reproduction with success stories as well as some extreme risks. The host, Alisyn Camerota, noted from the outset that she had undergone IVF. And I was pleasantly surprised that the show, while perhaps frequently focusing on the negative — fertility treatments gone wrong, concerns with the industry, and a push for more regulation — was not merely a scathing expose of critical family-building tools.
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Scratching The Surface.
There are so many facets of fertility treatment and modern family building. All that the program was able to do in its hour slot (with commercials), was scratch the surface. From lying sperm donors, to the questionable promise of egg freezing, to doctors using their own sperm to impregnate patients, to, of course, surrogacy, any one of these fertility topics merited deeper discussion. With such limited time, each topic and issue was only given brief consideration and a few sound bites. However, I give the program points for raising awareness and for the excellent commentary from some of my favorite fertility experts.
Is Regulation The Answer?
The program asked the broad — and important — question: does the fertility industry need greater regulation? While not answering the question directly, the program’s narrative pointed directly to “yes.” It focused on the Gunners, the parents to a donor-conceived child who lost his life to addiction, likely to due to hereditary mental illness. After their son Steven’s death, the Gunners learned that the sperm donor that they chose had lied to the sperm bank, omitting his own mental health and addiction history, including a lengthy associated hospitalization.
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The Gunners have become fierce advocates for more regulation of sperm and egg donation, asking for mandatory screening and verification — first through the stalled New York Donor Conceived Person Protection Act and then with the recently introduced federal bill “Steven’s Law.”
Separately, the program spent time with Eve Wiley — a charismatic cross between Elle Woods and Erin Brockovich. A relentless fertility-fraud legislation advocate, Wiley shared her own jaw-dropping story in this podcast interview and has gone on to advocate for and pass fertility fraud legislation in eight states, and counting. Now, her efforts have led to the introduction of federal fertility-fraud legislation. Wiley described how the days of doctors covertly using their own sperm to impregnate patients are long gone. Home DNA kits and the certainty of getting caught have solved that problem. However, she explained that fertility-fraud legislation serves an additional purpose. It provides education in a largely misunderstood industry that has traditionally thrived off of anonymity and stigma and leads to important discussion as to how to handle ongoing technological advances.
There is no doubt that additional legislation is in the U.S. fertility industry’s future. The only real question is what that regulation will look like when it ultimately passes.
Take A Deeper Dive
The best part of “CNN’s Special Report: The Baby Business” was seeing familiar fertility experts, many of which have been featured in this column. The short program offered each only a few seconds, or minutes, at best. For a deeper dive, I recommend you check out these experts and organizations in more detail.
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- Professor Dov Fox, law professor, author, and producer/narrator. Author of “Birth Rights and Wrongs: How Medicine and Technology are Remaking Reproduction and the Law” and narrator of the podcast Donor 9623. The book is a great read, and the podcast a fascinating listen — he even interviews the notorious Donor 9623 himself in the last episode!
- Reproductive Alliance. This is the organization my sister helped co-found. It’s an alternative to government regulation. The budding Reproductive Alliance offers more predictability and stability to the world of surrogacy matchmakers.
- Barbara Collura, president/CEO of Resolve: The National Infertility Association. While Collura had only a few seconds to speak on egg freezing, her organization is the most active in the fertility advocacy space, promoting greater accessibility to fertility treatment through insurance coverage and supportive regulation.
- Jill Teitel, a fertility litigator. Lawyers especially should enjoy Teitel’s podcast episode speaking with her client on the fascinating case of what happens when a sperm bank sues its own client for DNA testing her child.
- Wendy Kramer, the co-founder of the Donor Sibling Registry. Her website has over 80,000 members and has connected more than 22,000 donor-conceived persons with their half-siblings, donor, or both. Kramer is one of the most familiar and vocal voices in the industry for the end of anonymity.
Imagine if your industry got an hour-long special on CNN. It was quite an experience to see the people, stories, and friends (and family!) on the small screen. Take a look — and check out the sources above for more fascinating information on this unique industry.
Ellen Trachman is the Managing Attorney of Trachman Law Center, LLC, a Denver-based law firm specializing in assisted reproductive technology law, and co-host of the podcast I Want To Put A Baby In You. You can reach her at babies@abovethelaw.com.
