CBS Accused of Giving Embryo Adoption Short Shrift
by Mary Rettig
April 6, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The director of the National Embryo Donation Center (NEDC) says a CBS News program pushed a political agenda on its recent piece on leftover embryos. He says the network did a disservice to the public when it aired "A Surplus of Embryos." The segment aired during a February installment of 60 Minutes, the long-time popular Sunday evening program on the CBS network. The NEDC's Dr. Jeff Keenan says a couple who was using the Center to get pregnant was interviewed by CBS staff, and that the original premise of the segment was good.
According to Keenan, the staff that interviewed him and the couple -- Christy and Shannon Bomar -- informed them the piece was to be about what to do with leftover embryos. He says that turned out not to be the case.
"[T]he story basically ended up leaving the listener with the impression ... that there are 400,000 embryos in cryopreservation, they're slowly dying, and they should be used for embryonic stem-cell research -- except that President Bush won't allow that," Keenan points out.
The NEDC director says when the final editing of the segment was done, there was nothing left of the Bomars' interviews. Keenan finds that particularly disappointing because 60 Minutes chose to air neither the Bomars' embryo transfer nor the result of the transfer: Christy Bomar's pregnancy.
Mrs. Bomar expressed her dissatisfaction with the CBS segment in a press release from the NEDC. "Embryo adoption was not shown [in the segment] as a good option for couples who wanted to grow a family," she explained. "If people knew about the procedure and the option to adopt embryos, there would be more children born from embryo adoption."
The NEDC asserts it was a "grave injustice" to the public not to air this type of viable option for couples with fertility problems or couples with extra embryos. "Unfortunately," says Keenan, "the final editing under the direction of the producers and Leslie Stahl at CBS transformed the story to one that almost ignored the option of embryo adoption and basically changed the story into an indictment of President Bush and his administration."
Keenan adds that if CBS had its facts straight, it would have known that President Bush has been the only president to allow federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research.
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
