Reuters: Over 4,000 embryos destroyed in Gaza clinic hit by missile
Reuters findings reveal that as a result of an Israeli missile striking Gaza’s largest in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinic in December, around 4,000 embryos along with 1,000 unfertilized fertile sperm and eggs were destroyed.
According to the report, when an Israeli bullet hit Gaza’s largest fertility clinic in December, over 4,000 embryos in addition to 1,000 samples of unfertilized sperm and fertile eggs were wiped out.
This fertility center, targeted in December, operated in sections of diagnostics and treatments for fertility issues, artificial reproductive processes (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), and other assisted reproductive techniques.
According to Reuters, the impact of the Israeli missile hitting the unit specializing in embryology destroyed five liquid nitrogen tanks stored in a corner of the unit. With the evaporation of the ultra-cold nitrogen liquid, the temperature inside the tanks increased, leading to the destruction of fertility samples at the Al-Basma Center for Fertility in Gaza City.
Al-Khalidi, a trained obstetrician and gynecologist in Cambridge who first opened the clinic in 1997, told Reuters, “We know very well what these 5,000 lives or potential lives mean for parents, for the future, or for the past.”
He said, “At least half of the couples affected by other fertility problems will no longer have a chance to conceive. All these lives have been destroyed or taken by one shot: 5,000 lives in one missile.”
It’s worth noting that an embryo is the result of the combination of an egg and sperm and is kept in suitable and controlled environmental conditions, with liquid nitrogen tanks being one of the prerequisites for embryo storage. The storage of embryos in specialized and suitable environments occurs for various reasons, such as artificial fertilization.
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