Dr Asciak, who is a medical doctor and chairman of the Bioethics Consultative Committee, said this practice was “not rampant” but has been going on “for a long time”.

The regulations of the Health Department prohibit artificial insemination by a donor, Dr Asciak said. Only artificial insemination by the husband is permitted in Malta.

“We have to discuss the whole issue of whether to accept artificial insemination by donor or not. What does the Church think about this?,” Dr Asciak said.

“Even if we accept artificial insemination by donor, paying a person for donating sperm is unethical,” he added.

“If we accept artificial insemination by a donor, we need strong legislation; if we do not, we will still need a strong legislation,” Dr Asciak said.

Dr Asciak said fertility clinics were also allegedly committing abuses. He explained that since extracting ova from a woman was a painful procedure, fertility clinics were resorting to hyperstimulation of the ovaries in order to increase the production of ova.

This is yielding six to seven ova, all of which are fertilised. They are all being put in the womb since they cannot be frozen.

But the womb can only keep up to a maximum of three embryos, hence the extra embryos were effectively being “dumped in the woman’s womb”.

“We must remember that human life starts at conception. That is the law in Malta,” Dr Asciak said. In Italy the law states that only up to three ovaries can be put in the womb.

Moreover, hyperstimulation of women’s ovaries can cause a syndrome which may lead to death, Dr Asciak added.

Dr Asciak also said that genetic testing is being abused in Malta, as the recent television programme “Tista’ Tkun Int” showed.

In this case a six-year-old girl discovered who her parents were after cells were taken from the girl’s mouth and subjected to a genetic test.

“Genetic testing should be conducted in a professional environment and with proper counselling,” Dr Asciak said.

He said that genetic labs in Malta had regulations laid down by the Health Department but they are “not very well enforced”. The Health Department does investigate abuses, but the situation returns to square one soon after, he said.

Dr Asciak said that in some countries employers are now asking for the genetic profiles of prospective employees and insurances are doing the same before providing health insurance.

He said that with pre-natal genetic testing, parents are faced with a dilemma whether to have an abortion or not if tests indicate that their child is suffering from some kind of disease or disability.

In this scenario, he said, “there is need for a law where everybody knows that if they violate this law they will be punished.”

Dr Asciak said that if you take a paternity test in France without following the proper procedures you will be arrested.

“Science will not regulate itself, it needs a proper legislative framework,” he said.

Dr Asciak told The Malta Independent on Sunday that Malta has not yet signed the Oviedo Convention on genetic testing.

The Nationalist MP highlighted these alleged abuses regarding fertility and paternity issues while speaking during the adjournment in Parliament two weeks ago.

This has been going on for the past three to four years, Dr Asciak told The Malta Independent on Sunday. “I have been receiving complaints for a long time.”

He said he had not raised these issues before because the country was focused on the EU accession issue and had informed the Health Minister before speaking in Parliament.

“Now that the EU issue is over, I think that the country and the government can afford to have this matter on their agenda,” Dr Asciak told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Dr Asciak, who is a medical doctor and chairman of the Bioethics Consultative Committee, said this practice was “not rampant” but has been going on “for a long time”.

The regulations of the Health Department prohibit artificial insemination by a donor, Dr Asciak said. Only artificial insemination by the husband is permitted in Malta.

“We have to discuss the whole issue of whether to accept artificial insemination by donor or not. What does the Church think about this?,” Dr Asciak said.

“Even if we accept artificial insemination by donor, paying a person for donating sperm is unethical,” he added.

“If we accept artificial insemination by a donor, we need strong legislation; if we do not, we will still need a strong legislation,” Dr Asciak said.

Dr Asciak said fertility clinics were also allegedly committing abuses. He explained that since extracting ova from a woman was a painful procedure, fertility clinics were resorting to hyperstimulation of the ovaries in order to increase the production of ova.

This is yielding six to seven ova, all of which are fertilised. They are all being put in the womb since they cannot be frozen.

But the womb can only keep up to a maximum of three embryos, hence the extra embryos were effectively being “dumped in the woman’s womb”.

“We must remember that human life starts at conception. That is the law in Malta,” Dr Asciak said. In Italy the law states that only up to three ovaries can be put in the womb.

Moreover, hyperstimulation of women’s ovaries can cause a syndrome which may lead to death, Dr Asciak added.

Dr Asciak also said that genetic testing is being abused in Malta, as the recent television programme “Tista’ Tkun Int” showed.

In this case a six-year-old girl discovered who her parents were after cells were taken from the girl’s mouth and subjected to a genetic test.

“Genetic testing should be conducted in a professional environment and with proper counselling,” Dr Asciak said.

He said that genetic labs in Malta had regulations laid down by the Health Department but they are “not very well enforced”. The Health Department does investigate abuses, but the situation returns to square one soon after, he said.

Dr Asciak said that in some countries employers are now asking for the genetic profiles of prospective employees and insurances are doing the same before providing health insurance.

He said that with pre-natal genetic testing, parents are faced with a dilemma whether to have an abortion or not if tests indicate that their child is suffering from some kind of disease or disability.

In this scenario, he said, “there is need for a law where everybody knows that if they violate this law they will be punished.”

Dr Asciak said that if you take a paternity test in France without following the proper procedures you will be arrested.

“Science will not regulate itself, it needs a proper legislative framework,” he said.

Dr Asciak told The Malta Independent on Sunday that Malta has not yet signed the Oviedo Convention on genetic testing.

The Nationalist MP highlighted these alleged abuses regarding fertility and paternity issues while speaking during the adjournment in Parliament two weeks ago.

This has been going on for the past three to four years, Dr Asciak told The Malta Independent on Sunday. “I have been receiving complaints for a long time.”

He said he had not raised these issues before because the country was focused on the EU accession issue and had informed the Health Minister before speaking in Parliament.

“Now that the EU issue is over, I think that the country and the government can afford to have this matter on their agenda,” Dr Asciak told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

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