IVF consultation launched in Australia
Australia is to conduct a review of the ethics and clinical practice of assisted reproductive technology.
Australia is to conduct a review of the ethics and clinical practice of assisted reproductive technology (ART). The National Health and Medical Research Council will use feedback from the public in a review or current ART guidelines. No changes have been proposed yet. The deadline for submissions is April 30.
In most cases Australian regulations are fairly permissive and there seems to be little likelihood of imposing major restrictions. However, there are many areas which are puzzling and controversial even for people involved in the IVF industry.
Some topics on which the NHMRC invites comment are:
- age limits on sperm donors
- limits on the number of children sired by sperm donors
- compensating egg and sperm donors
- should donors be able to exclude certain clients such as lesbians, single mothers or ethic groups from using their sperm?
- posthumous sperm donation
- confidentiality about sperm and egg donation
- the practice of creating hybrid embryos to test the quality of human sperm
- storage limits for frozen embryos
- “adoption” of frozen embryos
- consent issues when gametes are obtained from children or people with impaired intellectual capacity.
- sex selection
- legalising commercial surrogacy
Michael Cook
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Creative commons
Australia
IVF
Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.
Latest posts by Michael Cook (see all)
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- House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
- Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021
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