Decoding The Jargon: Article on Terminology

• Published date: 01 January 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12549
• Date: 01 January 2021
• Author: Stephen Page

DECODING THE JARGON: ARTICLE ON TERMINOLOGY

Stephen Page

The article discusses the more commonly seen terms, including using internationally used consensus def‌initions, so that dis-

cussion of ART is navigable.

Practitioner’sKey Points:

ART jargon seems unnavigable at times.

Rather than using jargon, plain language has been sought to be used, for example, egg instead of ovum or oocyte.

Keywords: ART; Conception; Egg; Embryo; ICSI; Infertility; IVF; Sperm; Surrogacy.

The problem of what conception is illustrates in a microcosm the problem of trying to work out

how law and practice deal with assisted reproductive treatment (ART). From a biological point of

view, conception is straightforward. It is the fertilization of an egg that results in new life. in vitro

fertilization (IVF) has changed that dynamic. When children are conceived through IVF, there are

in essence two or four parts to the process:

1. Either through standard IVF or a process called ICSI,

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fertilization of the egg occurs.

2. The initial process as envisaged with IVF was a two-step process, the second step being

the implantation of the fertilized egg into the uterus of the woman, resulting in pregnancy.

3. More and more common the process is a four-step process. After the fertilization of the

egg, it is then frozen by vitrif‌ication, i.e., it is turned into a glass-like substance by

instantly touching a super chilled piece of metal. The fertilized egg, called an embryo, is

then placed in a vial, sealed, labeled and then in turn placed in a container frozen by liquid

nitrogen.

4. At some point, the embryo will then be removed from its vial, and then through a complex

process of thawing and hatching, it will, if not destroyed in that process, then be implanted

in the woman.

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The process of freezing the egg and then thawing it before implanting means that weeks, months

or indeed many years may pass between the act of creating the fertilized egg and that of implanta-

tion, leading to pregnancy.

The question of whether the act of fertilization or the act of implantation/pregnancy is concep-

tion of a child has been so controversial a topic that when the International Glossary on Infertility

and Fertility Care was released in 2017,

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the authors declined to def‌ine conception.

However, conception was f‌irst def‌ined by a court in Australia in 2012. The question arose

because the relevant legislative provision

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provided that a written surrogacy arrangem ent should be

made before a child is conceived. The legislation contained no def‌inition of “conceive”or “concep-

tion.”The intended parents were a heterosexual couple. The wife was diagnosed with cancer.

Corresponding: stephen@pageprovan.com.au

Stephen Page is a principal of Page Provan, Brisbane, Australia, and lecturer in Ethics and the Law in Reproductive Medicine

at the University of New South Wales.

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 59 No. 1, January 2021 9–21, doi: 10.1111/fcre.12549

© 2021 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts