A bill regulating IVF was launched this morning. Consultation on the bill is on until mid-September.
The Embryo Protection Bill, which lays out the general principles but does not go into the nitty gritty, provides for the freezing of eggs but prohibits the freezing of embryos except in exceptional cases.
It proposed that the IVF procedure is available free of charge at Mater Dei to heterosexual couples who were either married or in a stable relationship and who met the eligibility criteria based on international guidelines.
The details, Justice Minister Chris Said said, would be drawn up by an autonomous regulatory authority that would be set up according to the bill, once it became law.
The bill prohibits the use of embryos for purposes other than pregnancy and excluded the possibility of surrogate motherhood. It also prohibited parents from choosing the sex of their baby. It also sets a limit of two eggs to be fertilised per cycle.
Health Minister Joseph Cassar said the limit was set so low because scientific advances meant that the success rate had improved significantly.
If none of the eggs were fertilised, the process could start all over again but the fact that eggs could be frozen would save the woman having to go through the hyper stimulation process, which was very painful.
The bill also provided health professionals with the possibility to exclude themselves from carrying out practices if they had moral objection to them.
It provided for a series of fines up to €70,000 or imprisonment up to seven years, depending on the gravity of the offence.
Dr Said said that both he and Dr Cassar were ready to meet people to listen to their suggestions. Dr Cassar said that before the bill was drawn up, specialised centres in Europe, the US and Canada were consulted
Around 250 IVF cycles are predicted for next year but the number is likely to grow as a country of Malta’s size was projected to have around 500 cycles a year.
Prospective parents will have to be issued a certificate stating that they are eligible for the procedure.