Both the Nationalist Party and the Labour Party Members of Parliament voted in favour of changing the IVF laws in accordance to today’s realities, with the PN particularly changing tack somewhat from its initial stance on the amendments.

Health Minister Chris Fearne gave a roundup of the discussions held by a total of 19 speakers, stating that “it was nice to see both sides of the House agreeing on these much needed changes.”

“The dream of a lot of people is to bring children into this world, to pass on their lives experiences and so on. For many people this is part of the circle of life but for others their circle of life is disrupted. It is an ordeal and an impossible task,” Fearne said in his own address in Parliament. 

Fearne continued to say that IVF offers a medical solution to infertility and continued that it was the duty of the government to make sure that this solution is offered. “We have to provide the legal framework for IVF to move with the times as we did in the previous years.” 

The amendments include changes to the sperm donation, and one child has already been born through sperm donation and another two women are pregnant after sperm donations. 

“In Malta only 4 embryos which are frozen have not been implanted and will be up for adoption in the coming days. Also out of the 400-plus pregnancies in Malta through IVF, 25 of them were from frozen embryos.” 

The introduction of PGTM testing is important to break the cycles of some hereditary diseases which prevent couples from becoming parents, Fearne said.

With regards to the argument of PBT and PGTM testing, Fearne said that “PBT is the first test couples undergoing IVF will undertake, we still have to test the embryo after fertilisation. Let us not force couples to go through the stress of not knowing what their children have.”

Fearne argued that since the science allows one to prevent certain conditions, they why shouldn’t the science be used.

In his closing statement, Fearne read out an email from someone who had a child with a rare condition (GM-1) who would likely leave the world within his first couple of years stating that “through these amendments, we can ensure that this couple would not go through this process again.”

Grech backs embryo genetic testing, proposes different test - which Fearne says is already proposed 

In his address earlier in the sitting, Nationalist Party Leader Bernard Grech proposed that besides testing embryos, a new form of testing (PBT - Polar Body Testing) should be made available since it tests the female’s egg rather than the embryo.

Fearne however put down these proposals, stating that they are already found in the legal amendments which have been tabled in Parliament.

Through the process of a point of order, Fearne took time to quote the page and paragraph which states that PBT would be available for couples just like the PGTM.

The second reading of the proposed amendments was approved unanimously by Parliament, with PN MPs all voting in favour along with government MPs. 

During his speech, Grech stated that the government is constantly being caught in one lie after another. “The PN always was in favour of life and in favour of more couples becoming parents and that is why 10 years ago a PN government introduced the IVF laws in Malta. We did this because we always wanted to help couples who wanted to become parents.” 

The government claims that it was the Labour Party who introduced the concept of IVF in Malta, Grech said. 

“The laws were limited when compared to the needs of today but one has to adapt according to the realities of the day,” he said. 

Another lie which the government found itself in according to the PN leader is on the payments of medicine made by couples undergoing IVF. According to Grech, couples only now started receiving the money they spent on IVF medicines years ago. 

“We met couples who told us that the government was not covering all the costs of IVF treatment. This is another lie which the government is caught in. In fact throughout the past few days the government said that it is back tracking the payments couples made in IVF medicine.” Grech said. 

Grech went on to state that the PN agrees with the benefits of PGTM but other options should be made available. 

This was in reference to the PBT testing which rather than testing the embryo of a couple, they test the female egg for eight out of the nine genetic conditions which the PGTM tests for. 

Through the PBT testing, an egg will not have to be fertilised unlike in the case of PGTM testing. The difference between the two is that PBT does not test for Huntington’s disease but the PN stated that in specific cases where Huntington’s disease is a serious risk, PGTM should be used. 

“Therefore I ask why the government does not consider the other form of testing where we do not have to fertilise eggs and create a stockpile of embryos? Let’s put PBT as a free testing available for couples and therefore they will have a choice. If the government votes against this, it will be going against the freedom of choice of the people,” he said.

Grech then stated that he fully agrees with the amendments proposed and hopes PBT will be included.

Through the point of order process, Fearne and Labour Party MP Randolph Debattista said that this procedure is already mentioned in the amendments proposed by the government.

Debattista continued to jab at the Opposition stating that the Opposition and the ‘temples’ of Malta (referring to the Church) are scaring people away from IVF and the embryo freezing part of the process.

Regardless of Debattista's accusations of fearmongering, the Opposition MPs all voted in favour of the proposed amendments.