Filenews 17 March 2023 - by Marilena Panayi
The right to IVF up to the age of 53, the possibility of involving a surrogate mother in case of a single woman who wishes to have a child but is unable to become pregnant and regulations on all issues related to the anonymity of gamete donors (sperm or eggs), provides for an amending bill, the discussion of which began yesterday in the Health Committee of the Parliament and concerns medically assisted reproduction.
In the substantive discussion of the amendments, it was found that there are different views regarding the right of the child resulting from an IVF to be informed after reaching adulthood about the identity of the donor, i.e. his/her biological father or mother.
Of particular interest was what was said and related to an earlier request by the Parliamentary Committee on Health to increase the sponsorship that women receive from the Ministry of Health for each IVF attempt they make. Under the program currently in place by the Ministry of Health, each woman has the right to receive €2,500 (plus free medicines and other tests) for a total of four attempts. As reported by MPs (since the officials of the Ministry of Health for obvious reasons avoided giving explanations when asked about it), following the request of the committee, the Ministry of Health proceeded several months ago to a proposal to the Ministry of Finance asking for approval for the granting of an amount of € 5,000 to each woman for the first (out of four) IVF attempt she will make. The request of the Ministry of Health, however, was rejected by the then Minister of Finance and as the MPs said, it is expected that now with the change of government, a new effort will be made.
The reports of representatives of the Council for Medically Assisted Reproduction, about Greek Cypriot couples who resort to the occupied territories in order to proceed with IVF with preimplantation screening (embryo selection), mainly for gender selection purposes, also aroused interest. It was emphasized that the procedure is done in centers that are not controlled by the Republic of Cyprus and therefore there are no data on their reliability and the quality of the services they provide, while reference was also made to cases where a surrogate mother is used who gives birth in the free areas and then the couple must follow other procedures in order to certify that the child is theirs for registration and issuance purposes. birth certificate, etc.
On the substance of the bill, and as stated in the explanatory memorandum accompanying it, the purpose of the amendments is
» To guarantee the right of surrogacy to the single woman only with the permission of the Council of Medically Assisted Reproduction and provided that the solitary woman cannot become pregnant due to serious and special medical problems. Simply put, women who are solitary (they do not have a husband / partner) and cannot proceed with IVF due to their inability to become pregnant, for medical reasons, will be able to use a surrogate mother and use sperm from a donor.
>> Abolish the obligation to obtain leave from the Council for the application of assisted reproduction methods by solitary women (with the exception of surrogacy). In other words, a single woman will be able to proceed with IVF using a sperm donor without first having to obtain approval from the Council.
The bill also includes provisions that enshrine a maximum age of natural reproductive ability of the assisted woman at 53 years. It is currently allowed up to 50 years of age, and for older women, if a request is made to the Council, a special permit is granted. As representatives of the Ministry of Health have said, in recent years the Council has received a great many requests from women aged 51-53, accompanied by medical certificates that these women have the opportunity to have children. Therefore, it was considered appropriate to amend the legislation and raise the age limit to 53 years so that permission does not have to be given by the Council for Medically Assisted Reproduction. It has been clarified, however, that after this amendment there will be no right to exceptional authorisation for older women. For the determination of the 53 years, the representatives of the competent services and other stakeholders said, account was taken of what applies in other States of the European Union and beyond.
In addition, the bill includes provisions regarding the prohibition of advertisements aimed at finding donors. As can be seen from what was said at yesterday's meeting on this amendment, there are no disagreements between the parties involved.
The proposed amendments seem to be agreed by all stakeholders who, however, at the request of the parliamentary committee, have committed themselves to send to the Ministry of Health within the next few days their recommendations on the issues that arose during yesterday's meeting and need further study.
On the part of the parties, there also do not seem to be any significant disagreements with the amendments proposed by the Ministry of Health and therefore, it should not be expected that the promotion of this bill to the Plenary for adoption will be delayed.
Right or protection of the child?
Finally, the amending bill regulates all issues related to the anonymity of donors with the aim of protecting the child. There seems to be particular concern about this issue, but also different opinions. Yesterday's debate on this issue was quite intense, since representatives of the medically assisted reproduction centers and doctors stressed the fact that in other states the child is allowed to know who the donor of sperm or egg was. In Cyprus, as mentioned, the amendment provides that the disclosure of the identity of the donor is prohibited. It was suggested that, at least in cases where the donor comes from abroad, the child is given the right to search for and secure their data. However, this possibility was rejected by the Legal Service which explained that it would be unconstitutional based on the principle of equality since since it is forbidden for Cypriot donors the right cannot be given to foreigners. MPs said that since in several other states it is not forbidden to give the child the data of the donor, then in Cyprus there should be a similar regulation, clarifying that the donor's details will be given only when the child searches for them.
INTERVENTION
On anonymity
During the exchange of views on the issues concerning whether the child should have the right to be informed about the sperm donor or the egg donor, several views were expressed, the vast majority of which were accompanied by strong arguments. What may need a second reading is the view that when the donor is Cypriot, his/her anonymity must be strictly preserved. There has been talk of social issues. However, I wonder whether we should take into account the small size of Cyprus and how easy it is for two children, who are actually brothers and sisters and do not know it, to get together and become a couple, with all that that entails.
