On this episode of The John-Henry Westen Show, Dr. Craig Turczynski discusses what goes on inside the IVF industry, the morality of adopting frozen embryos, and more.
Pray for an end to IVF and the protection of human embryos: Join our prayer pledge
(LifeSiteNews) — Joining me on this episode of The John Henry Westen Show is former IVF lab director turned restorative reproductive medicine advocate Dr. Craig Turczynski. We discussed what goes on inside the IVF industry, what motivates the industry, health risks of IVF on mothers, the morality of adopting frozen embryos, and more.
I began the episode by asking Craig about why he left the IVF industry. Craig first explained that he entered the industry, even as a cradle Catholic who understood the Church's teachings on the practice, because he believed he would be helping babies in the role. But after seeing the true harms of IVF, and a final argument with his boss about discarding frozen embryos, he left the field.
"The final straw was when patients who had embryos didn't want to freeze the extra embryos and wanted me to discard them. That resulted in some conflict with ... my boss at the time, [who] was the MD that was taking care of that patient," Craig said. "Clearly, my job was at stake. And unfortunately, I caved, and I followed the wishes of the patient, and I let those embryos die in culture."
"After that, I realized that I couldn't stay in the field, that eventually, like that particular event, I would continuously be required to do things against my conscience," he added. "So I found work ... and I completely left the field."
READ: IVF, surrogacy have created a chilling moral horror show
I followed up by asking Craig what he specifically saw that led to his leaving the IVF industry. Craig emphasized that he had seen firsthand how IVF doctors often prioritize their business over the patient's best interests.
"I like to describe the experience that the patient has going through IVF as a 'roller coaster ride.' And during that process, really very little is done to try to determine the underlying cause of the infertility," he said. "In fact, if you have ... a young couple that's aggressive and wants to move to IVF. ... In the field, you don't necessarily want to discourage that, because that helps your statistics."
Craig further underscored how IVF will often lead to ups and downs for patients, and even if a woman is able to get pregnant, that pregnancy frequently ends in a miscarriage, and worse.
READ: Anti-surrogacy activist calls for end to multi-billion dollar 'baby trade' worldwide
"During the course of that roller coaster ride ... it produces a lot of pain, and there's ups when things are going well, and then down when they're not," he said. "And the most painful of it all is when, after all of this trauma, and maybe even multiple attempts, the patient may have a positive pregnancy test that results in spontaneous abortion, or an ectopic pregnancy where ... not only does the fetus not survive, but the woman's lost her tube. So there's just a lot of pain and difficulties that the patient experiences."
To hear more from Dr. Craig Turczynski, tune in to this episode of The John-Henry Westen Show.
The John-Henry Westen Show is available by video on the show’s YouTube channel and right here on my LifeSite blog.
It is also available in audio format on platforms such as Spotify, Soundcloud, and Acast. We are awaiting approval for iTunes and Google Play as well. To subscribe to the audio version on various channels, visit the Acast webpage here.
We’ve created a special email list for the show so that we can notify you every week when we post a new episode. Please sign up now by clicking here. You can also subscribe to the YouTube channel, and you’ll be notified by YouTube when there is new content.
You can send me feedback, or ideas for show topics by emailing [email protected].
Pray for an end to IVF and the protection of human embryos: Join our prayer pledge
