Embryo Freezing, gamete donation, Malta

Embryo Freezing And Gamete Donation: Malta’s Laws On Assisted Reproduction Have Just Changed, And Here’s What That Means

Source Lovin Malta

You may have blinked and missed it, but yesterday heralded a not-unsubstantial change in the way all things fertility-related are to be regulated in Malta. The amended law on assisted reproduction was approved and passed and started being implemented as of 1st October.

What I will attempt to do is give you a little summary of what can and can’t be done in Malta from this point on, and what has actually changed. Once again, I’ll refrain from rhetoric and judgement. You’re all grown-ups and capable of forming your own opinions, however, the unfortunate (or fortunate) thing is, the die has been cast and this is the law that Maltese residents must abide by for the future.

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Malta, Surrogacy Law

Malta – Common sense has prevailed

Source Times of Malta

A child born as a result of gamete donation will have a right to know the identity of his biological mother and father at the age of 18. Photo: Shutterstock

Thankfully it seems like common sense has prevailed regarding the amendments to the Embryo Protection Act. There are three main fundamental improvements to the original Bill.

The first is that a child born as a result of gamete donation will have a right to know the identity of his biological mother and father at the age of 18.

The second is that the parents of frozen embryos will be given an additional IVF cycle, free of charge, to give all embryos the chance to be brought to term. This is certainly an improvement over the original Bill; however this should be further strengthened with a legal obligation to do so within a two-year period unless a medical condition precludes this. This will significantly reduce the number of embryos that will be ‘up for adoption’, which should only be exceptional cases – preferably none at all.

The third amendment is that the regulation of altruistic surrogacy is going to be discussed in a separate Act of Parliament, rather than through a legal notice subsidiary to the Embryo Protection Act. The surrogate mother will be given all the support she needs while respecting the rights of the biological gamete owners.

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children from egg and/or sperm donor, IVF, Malta

Malta – IVF law: woman born of anonymous donor conception views concession on medical history as ‘token’

Source Independent

A woman born by anonymous donor conception, Dr Joanna Rose, views the Maltese government’s offer to allow those born through the same practice to have access to their genetic parent’s medical history as more of a “token”.

Rose is an activist who works to highlight the plight of those born by anonymous donor conception, resulting in identity issues and medical issues as a result of having incomplete access to the genetic family’s medical history.

Born in the UK, Rose went to university and after she graduated, she was awarded a scholarship to get her PhD on the subject.

Anonymous donor conception is when sperm and/or eggs are donated to an infertile woman seeking to become pregnant through IVF. Parliament is set to discuss amendments to the 2012 Embryo Protection Act which would introduce embryo freezing and tie it to anonymous embryo adoption.

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Egg Donation, frozen embryos, Malta, Sperm Donation, Surrogacy

Malta – INDEPTH: Surrogacy can lead children into an identity crisis

Source Indepth

Dr MIRIAM SCIBERRAS, Chairperson Life Network Foundation Malta, speaks to Rachel Attard about the amendments to the much-disputed IVF law. While she says that regulating the law to help couples while also safeguarding the human embryo is a good thing, she argues that the amendments being proposed are introducing new concepts which are not in principle part of Maltese society

In principle, are you against IVF?

In 2012, I was part of a group named Professionals Against Embryo Freezing that was involved in the amendment of the law regulating IVF, in the belief that helping couples while also safeguarding the human embryo is a good thing.

Are we not in the same situation now with the government proposing further regulations?

The amendments proposed are introducing new concepts which are not in principle part of Maltese society. The law in essence makes the human embryo an object by using terms like adopting and freezing. Although embryo freezing is already part of the law, it states that the case needs to be an exceptional one. If a woman cannot attend the session of implantation due to, for example, illness or an accident, the embryo is frozen until the woman has recovered. Now it will become a choice to freeze them.

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Embryo Protection Act, Malta

Malta – Not embryo protection but embryo production – Nadia Delicata

Source

An IVF lab. “The child born from such a technocratic procedure would never be able to know who their natural mother is, who their natural father is, whether they have any siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents… maybe not even who carried them in the womb that give them birth.”

Minister Chris Fearne has stated that the proposed amendments to the existing law that regulates IVF and grants protection to embryos “address one of the most powerful forces in human nature – the will to procreate and have a family” (Times of Malta, April 4). It is quite sad and ironic then, that the proposed legislation turns human procrea­tion into a totally unnatural act.

The Embryo Protection Act sought to regulate the use of technology wisely by restricting it to assisting infertile couples in a stable relationship. In doing so, it also protected the embryo’s dignity from the beginning of life and throughout their deve­lopment into childhood by making sure that they would be born and raised by their natural mother and father.

Not so in this proposed Act. Unashamedly, the proposed Act goes down the rabbit hole where not only does the embryo cease to have the lifelong protection of growing into and being sustained by their natural mother and father but it effectively makes redundant those natural family bonds, replacing them by the cold hand of technological procedure, registers and an (unspecified) “protocol”.

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Law, Malta

Malta – ‘I had told Muscat I am against freezing, adoption of embryos, and surrogacy’ – Deborah Schembri

Source Independent

Former Parliamentary Secretary Deborah Schembri said she has always been against embryo freezing, embryo adoption and surrogacy and “Prime Minister Joseph Muscat knew (this) from day one.”

Last week Health Minister Chris Fearne presented in Parliament a number of amendments to the Embryo Protection Act. Schembri said that she is in favour with some of them and against in others.

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Malta, Same Sex, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law

Pro-life group tears into proposed changes to IVF law

Source Malta Today
The Life Network Foundation says new law will create ethical and legal problems for children born from in-vitro fertilisation

A pro-life group has raised concerns over proposed changes to the Embryo Protection Act, which it says gives short shrift to the legal and ethical issues involved.

Life Network Foundation chairperson, Miriam Sciberras, was critical of changes that will change the definition of prospective parents, the introduction of anonymous gamete donation and embryo freezing.

Sciberras also criticised the proposal to start a consultation process on altruistic surrogacy. She said surrogacy turned women into objects and ignored the importance of the bond that develops during pregnancy between the mother and the child.

The wider definition of parents would allow, among others, single women to make use of in-vitro fertilisation treatment. The changes also propose the introduction of anonymous sperm and egg donation.

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Embryo Freezing, Malta

Malta – Embryo freezing will be linked to adoption

Source Malta Today

Embryo freezing and gamete donation are included in the changes being proposed by the government for the Embryo Protection Act • The first reading of the Bill will be held tonight

Changes to the law regulating in-vitro fertilisation will allow embryo freezing on condition that prospective parents agree to give up unclaimed embryos for adoption, MaltaToday has learnt.

Prospective parents will be issued with a ‘permit’ by the regulator to have their embryos frozen, which can then be extended every five years until the woman is 43.

Sources said this will give the couple ample time to use any frozen embryos but if they decide not to extend the permit, or the woman reaches 43, the Embryo Protection Authority will be able to give the embryos up for adoption.

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Embryo Freezing, Malta, Surrogacy

Malta – New bill will make IVF available to same-sex couples and single women, allow voluntary surrogacy

Source Times of Malta

The introduction of embryo freezing and adoption, access to IVF for same-sex couples and single persons, as well as a public consultation on surrogacy are the highlights of a new IVF bill presented this afternoon, by Health Minister Chris Fearne.

Addressing a news conference at Parliament, the deputy prime minister said the bill had been unanimously approved by the Labour Party.
He said that until the final few months of the Gonzi administration in 2012, there was no regulation of IVF.

“The 2012 law was a good move, but time is ripe to move further ahead,” he said.
He explained that between 18 to 20 per cent of couples faced infertility problems.

Under this bill IVF will be also be offered to same sex couples as well as single women.

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