Children's Commissioner Sonia Camilleri came in the line of fire yesterday after declaring that in her view in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) should not be allowed in Malta.

Opponents of Ms Camilleri's stand include doctors, the group for infertile couples - Wanting And Waiting (WAW) - and couples who had to resort to the treatment to have a baby.

Ms Camilleri told Parliament's Social Affairs Committee that IVF should not be allowed in Malta since research was still at too early a stage to guarantee a healthy life for the children born of the process. She said that nobody had the right to have a baby at all costs.

The president of the Malta College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Donald Felice said infertility treatment was the same as any other medical treatment and should be offered to people who needed it. He said it was very selfish for somebody in a sensitive position to pass such a comment, which he described as "fundamentalist".

"The percentage of people with infertility problems is quite high in Malta and we cannot tell them we do not want to treat them, since the solution is ethically acceptable" he said.

Mr Felice also stressed that infertility has a psychological impact on the couple, which sometimes led to psychiatric distress, and was also the cause of some relationship breakdowns.

Ms Camilleri said a British report indicated a higher rate of cancer in children conceived by IVF and that IVF babies had triple the chance of developing cerebral palsy.

But both Mr Felice and Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department chairman Mark Brincat said this was not a result of IVF.

Josie Muscat, of Saint James Hospital, also questioned the statement.

Mr Felice said that when there is an infertility problem among couples, their genes would not be as healthy as those of other couples and the children may as a result be not as healthy as other children.

Prof. Brincat reassured couples going through IVF and parents of IVF babies that the abnormality rate of IVF babies was no different than that of other babies, although pregnancies of couples with infertility problems tended to be high risk.

Speaking to The Times, Prof. Brincat said banning IVF was totally out of synch with what was happening in other countries.

"IVF and assisted conception have opened doors to many couples who, otherwise, would not have been able to have children," he said, adding that the comments were insensitive to couples who were undergoing IVF treatment.

Prof. Brincat said he was very keen to see the practice properly regulated but at the same time offering couples the same services that were offered elsewhere in Europe. He expressed his belief that the freezing process should also be made available in Malta.

Prof. Brincat said 1.5 million babies were born through IVF all over the world, with 300 babies born in Malta.

Both gynaecologists and WAW facilitator Donia Scicluna stressed that IVF was used as the last resort. There was nothing wrong in an established couple seeking treatment if everything else failed, she said, describing the couple's situation as "a nightmare".

"It is unfair for a person to interfere in what another person should do," she added.

Prof. Brincat said: "These people would have been trying to conceive on their own, and also by using natural methods, and IVF would be the last resort".

Dr Muscat said that for some people banning IVF would be a tragedy since assisted fertilisation was the only way for them to have children.

A father who had a child through IVF said Ms Camilleri seemed unaware of how many people were going through a lot of suffering to try and conceive a baby. Roy Vickery and his wife have gone through several IVF treatments over the past 10 years in both London and Sicily. The couple are currently trying for a second baby in a Maltese hospital.

"It is very selfish of a person who has had children to be insensitive to the pain and anguish that couples with infertility problems go through to try and have children," he said.

A 27-year-old father, who had a baby girl through assisted fertilisation last year, said couples were not doing anything wrong.

"In my case it was a dream come true. Having a baby had seemed unreachable, an impossible task, and through this technique we had a daughter," he said.

Despite the fact that the couple did not have an all round positive experience with IVF - they had quadruplets but only one survived - the father said he would do it again.

"If I got to know that IVF was going to be banned from next year, I would definitely do it again before because having a child is indescribable," he said.

IVF, he stressed, was not something couples did for fun but was definitely the last resort. It was not easy, and also expensive. The father said it was not fair that IVF was not offered for free in the public hospital since not all couples could afford it.

Another man who is currently going through IVF with his wife said Mrs Camilleri's comments were "very fundamentalist" and had hurt anyone who was going through the process.

"If she was lucky enough to have children the natural way, she should not expect that people who cannot not to do their utmost to also have children," he said.

In a statement issued earlier this year, the Curia said assisted fertilisation had opened up the road for a better future, adding that its main aim, which is to help couples with infertility problems have children, was good.

The Times online poll is currently asking readers whether they agree with Mrs Camilleri that IVF should be banned.

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