The Vatican has criticised a decision to award the Nobel Prize for Medicine to IVF pioneer Robert Edwards, who has brought the joy of parenthood to millions of infertile couples
The Vatican has criticised a decision to award the Nobel Prize for Medicine to IVF pioneer Robert Edwards, who has brought the joy of parenthood to millions of infertile couples.
"I find the choice of Robert Edwards completely out of order," said Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, head of the Pontifical Academy for Life, which speaks for the Vatican on medical ethics issues.
"Without Edwards, there would not be a market on which millions of ovocytes are soldu00a0... and there would not be a large number of freezers filled with embryos in the world," he was quoted as saying.
"In the best of cases they are transferred into a uterus, but most probably they will end up abandoned or dead, which is a problem for which the new Nobel Prize winner is responsible."
The interview also specified that he was speaking in a personal capacity.u00a0
IVF paved the way for "donations and sales involving human beings" and Edwards did not address the pathology of infertility.
Immoral
The Vatican considers in-vitro fertilisation immoral because of the wastage of a large number of embryos during the procedure.
The Nobel committee yesterday hailed the 85-year-old Briton's work as "a milestone in the development of modern medicine".
The original test tube baby also offered her congratulations.
"It's fantastic news. Me and mum are glad that one of the pioneers of IVF has been given the recognition he deserves," said Louise Brown.
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