U.K. IVF ethics to guide N.Z.

Press, 20 August 1983, Page 9

U.K. IVF ethics to guide N.Z.

PA Wellington New Zealand doctors will probably rely quite strongly on British medical guidelines for consideration of ethical questions about invitro fertilisation. The chairman of the New Zealand Medical Association, Dr Dean Williams, said the guidelines produced by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists were well thought out and were likely to form the basis of discussion. “It’s the most authoritative document to date and it

is likely to be accepted as an interim,” he said. The association’s central ethical committee was considering the whole issue but had been overtaken by the events at Auckland, where in-vitro fertilisation had been done at National Women’s Hospital. The Royal College’s ethics committee has supported the use of in-vitro fertilisation and embryo replacement within marriage. Marriage can be a legal marriage or a stable de

facto heterosexual relationship. (Embryo replacement is when the fertilised embryo is returned to the donor mother.) Under its guidelines the doctor has the right to refuse treatment if he considers, after suitable consultation, that it is inappropriate for the couple. This could be on physical, genetic, psychiatric or social grounds. The committee has ruled that the ova may be obtained for donor purposes by appropriate techniques. Such donor ova may be made available for fertilisation and implantation into suitable infertile “married” women.

In-vitro fertilisation and embryo replacement or embryo transfer (to a woman other than the one who donated the ova) should be used for single women only in exceptional circumstances. The ethics committee expected the number of single, infertile women wanting to use the procedure would be small. The number of these cases where the doctor felt fertilisation would be in everyone’s best interests would be even smaller.

But in a society where a variety of family forms existed, and where adoption by single people was possible, it felt it was wrong to make an arbitrary decision to exclude all single women. The decision was up to the doctor.

The committee is opposed to the involvement of a surrogate mother who would be implanted with a fertilised embryo on behalf of someone else. It . believes an international register of every baby born as the result of in-vitro fertilisation should be established. It also thinks consideration should be given to following up children to check development. The freezing of embryos, not used for implantation, should be permitted for a limited time and embryo division and reproduction would be permitted for specific research before implantation.

The committee also considered legal implications of in-vitro fertilisation, embryo replacement and artificial insemination by donor.