{"id":5581,"date":"2016-10-25T07:55:04","date_gmt":"2016-10-25T13:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/?p=5581"},"modified":"2016-10-25T07:55:04","modified_gmt":"2016-10-25T13:55:04","slug":"dear-cdc-all-is-forgiven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2016\/10\/dear-cdc-all-is-forgiven.html","title":{"rendered":"Dear CDC: all is forgiven!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/ivf-fertility-infertility-icsi-1514174\/\"<\/p>\n

Twice in the past, I\u2019ve written about ways in which the CDC\u2019s definitions go against international norms, making the U.S. appear worse than comparator countries. \u00a0First, the CDC defines maternal mortality much more expansively<\/a> than the WHO, making our maternal mortality rates look far worse. \u00a0And, second, the CDC has a much more expansive definition of \u201cpre-diabetes\u201d<\/a> than the WHO, catching more people up in the web of medical interventions.<\/p>\n

But in the news today is an action that the WHO is taking that makes me relieved that the CDC doesn\u2019t march in lock-step with them: \u00a0they are defining infertility not as a medical condition but as the social circumstance of not having a suitable partner.<\/p>\n

As reported in the Telegraph (UK)<\/a>, linked to by the National Review<\/a>, among others,<\/p>\n

Single men and women without medical issues will be classed as \u201cinfertile\u201d if they do not have children but want to become a parent, the World Health Organisation is to announce.<\/p>\n

In a move which dramatically changes the definition of infertility, the WHO will declare that it should no longer be regarded as simply a medical condition.<\/p>\n

The authors of the new global standards said the revised definition gave every individual \u201cthe right to reproduce\u201d. . . .<\/p>\n

But the new standard suggests that the inability to find a suitable sexual partner \u2013 or the lack of sexual relationships which could achieve conception \u2013 could be considered an equal disability. . . .<\/p>\n

Dr David Adamson, one of the authors of the new standards, said: \u201cThe definition of infertility is now written in such a way that it includes the rights of all individuals to have a family, and that includes single men, single women, gay men, gay women.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt puts a stake in the ground and says an individual\u2019s got a right to reproduce whether or not they have a partner. It\u2019s a big change.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt fundamentally alters who should be included in this group and who should have access to healthcare. It sets an international legal standard. Countries are bound by it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, to be sure, there\u2019s nothing on the WHO website itself<\/a>, which still contains the \u201cstandard\u201d definition, shared by the CDC<\/a>, of infertility as measured by the inability of a noncontracepting couple to conceive in a year\u2019s time. \u00a0And I\u2019m unable to find anything out there on the web in terms of a press release or other formal statement of this guideline. \u00a0Did Dr. Adamson (a prominent fertility specialist in California) speak out of turn, about a document that hasn\u2019t been signed off, in order to attempt to push the document towards being a \u201cdone deal\u201d when it hasn\u2019t actually been signed off on?<\/p>\n

What are the implications of this change? \u00a0The Telegraph article says that, in the UK, this could mean that the government would be required to cover fertility treatments for everyone and, what\u2019s more, would be obliged to legalize commercial surrogacy, that is, so that gay men could father a child without a \u201cmother.\u201d \u00a0Would they be obliged to pay for it, too? \u00a0Would they be required to fund artificial insemination for women, and eliminate their existing rules that prohibit payments (other than expenses) for eggs or sperm? \u00a0Apparently, Dr. Adamson\u2019s comments notwithstanding:<\/p>\n

A Department of Health spokesman said it would consider the WHO\u2019s final advice when published but the NHS was under no obligation to follow it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the U.S.? \u00a0We can only\u00a0hope that the CDC this time also refrains from copying the WHO precedent!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

image from pixabay;\u00a0https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/ivf-fertility-infertility-icsi-1514174\/; public domain<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twice in the past, I\u2019ve written about ways in which the CDC\u2019s definitions go against international norms, making the U.S. appear worse than comparator countries. \u00a0First, the CDC defines maternal mortality much more expansively than the WHO, making our maternal mortality rates look far worse. \u00a0And, second, the CDC has a much more expansive definition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":5582,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[434,183,482,484,483],"class_list":["post-5581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cdc","tag-fertility-treatments","tag-infertility","tag-surrogacy","tag-who"],"yoast_head":"\nDear CDC: all is forgiven!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Twice in the past, I've written about ways in which the CDC's definitions go against 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