The Malta College of Pathologists has published a position statement on the proposed Bill to amend the Embryo Protection Act of 2012. The College represents all pathology specialities, including medical genetics.
"Problems related to embryo freezing, as opposed to the current practice of freezing oocytes (female egg cells), include risk of embryo mortality during the thawing process and risk of harm or death to embryos because of equipment failure, which is always a risk even when rigorous quality standards are in place. Although the proposed amendments mandate that 'spare' embryos are given up for adoption, studies have shown that prospective parents prefer to have children who are genetically related to them and, given the choice, the majority will opt for this rather than adopt a genetically unrelated embryo. This raises the question of what will happen to embryos which remain unadopted" and the College is concerned that these may eventually be used for research purposes or may eventually be eliminated.
"The proposal that donors of gametes (egg cells) remain anonymous also raises concern. Genetic diseases may become apparent only after a donor has donated egg cells. This implies that a medical history taken at the time of donation will not include information about these diseases and children who are given access to such medical histories will remain unaware that they may have inherited a genetic disease. A possible solution would be to continuously update the medical history of donors, however in this case donors will no longer remain anonymous." The College also recommends preserving blood or tissue samples of donors for future tests.
"Another concern with anonymous donors is the remote, but possible, eventuality that half siblings end up having children together. Such children may have severe genetic disease. In order to reduce this possibility, the proposed amendments limit donors to a one time donation only, however this may not be enough and the College proposes that the number of live births per donor is also limited. In practice this will mean that if donated gametes result in the birth of a specified small number of babies, other gametes from the same donor should not be used to fertilise other eggs."
The College also recommends that the modified Act should stipulate that donors are not compensated in any way for donating gametes.
"Issues related to surrogacy include psychological issues for the surrogate mother and for the child who, in addition to never knowing who his or her biological parents are, may also have a lack of sense of belonging. There are also concerns that if the surrogate mother develops a disease which needs to be treated during pregnancy, possibly harming the developing embryo in the process, her right to medical treatment may be compromised unless her rights are specified in the act." The College also calls for responsibilities to be clearly delineated in those cases where a baby is diagnosed with abnormalities at birth or during pregnancy.
"Many of these issues are complex and require in depth discussion" and the College calls for an extended time period during which discussion by all stakeholders can take place in order to ensure that the rights of prospective parents are balanced with those of the embryo.
Read the full statement here.