VE proposes to extend the period of use of gametes and embryos donated anonymously

On Monday, BE introduced a bill to parliament to extend the use of gametes and embryos donated confidentially to avoid their destruction.

The blockers’ diploma proposes to extend the use of gametes (cells from which fertilization occurs) donated anonymously by seven years, and embryos donated under the same conditions of confidentiality by ten years.

This proposal completes a transitional rule created to prevent the immediate destruction of biological material once the new privacy regime comes into force.

The text follows a ruling by the Constitutional Court (CC) that put an end to donor confidentiality in the context of artificial insemination (AI) procedures.

The rule allowed gametes and embryos donated before 7 May 2018 to be used in the context of medically assisted reproduction three or five years, respectively, after the entry into force of the new confidentiality regime resulting from the CU ruling.

In 2018, the NC found that the donor anonymity rule violated the right to personal identity, personal development and genetic identity of children resulting from that donation, ending the protection of donor identity provided by the Medically Assisted Procreation Act.

With the end of the transitional period of government, which ends in August next year, it is expected that all gametes and embryos that are still in cryopreservation and have not been used or whose anonymity has not been lifted will be destroyed.

In this proposal, Blok de Esquerda stressed that the destruction of these embryos and gametes would further exacerbate the shortage of genetic material, which has led to “lack of access to PMA procedures and enormous waiting times that are incompatible with the life plans of many individuals and couples.”

With this in mind, BE requests that “every effort be made to ensure that this material is not destroyed and can continue to be used.”

If this BE proposal is approved, the use limit for gametes donated anonymously would be extended to August 1, 2026, and the use limit for embryos donated anonymously would be August 1, 2029.

The National Council for Medically Assisted Procreation has already said that only parliament can prevent the destruction of embryos for fertility treatments, after lifting a transitional rule that had prevented their destruction for the past five years.

Speaking to Lusa, the president of the National Council for Medically Assisted Reproduction (CNPMA), Carla Rodríguez, said that “this transition period has been extremely important to resolve this issue,” but stressed that there is a 2018 Constitutional Court ruling that must be implemented.

Asked about the petition filed by the Portuguese Fertility Association, which already has nearly two thousand signatures, to prevent the destruction of “thousands of embryos and gametes” in August in accordance with the law, the person in charge explained that CNPMA is a regulatory body that does not issue an opinion on a public petition.