Assisted births see regulation

This article was written by June Tsai and published by the Taiwan Journal on March 16, 2007. It reports that the Legislative Yuan in Taiwan recently ratified a bill that allows married couples to resort to assisted human reproduction technology in cases where infertility is diagnosed. The passage of the bill will provide a legal framework for the practice, which has long been performed but often causes controversy in Taiwan.

According to the Department of Health, the "Artificial Reproduction Act" aims to help infertile people have children safely. The act also aims to ensure that the rights of donors and children born in this process are protected.

Specifically, the act limits the use of assisted human reproduction (AHR) technology to infertility treatment for married couples. It prohibits sex selection and growing embryos for research. Trade in embryos, sperm, eggs or other human reproductive materials are also banned. The act further stipulates that AHR surgery can only be undertaken with the consent of both wife and husband. Children born using AHR technology will be regarded as legitimate offspring of the parents and enjoy rights specified in the Civil Code.

Meanwhile, the act includes provisions on the storage, protection and destruction of reproductive materials, as well as the record-keeping, use and management of related medical documents. Any doctor who performs AHR surgery without meeting the legal requirements will be punished with a maximum prison term of five years. Depending on the severity of the violation, the doctor will also have to pay a fine of US$3,000 to US$30,000.

According to this article, there are over 6,000 assisted human reproduction cases in Taiwan each year. The enactment of this bill will help clearly regulate the use of the technology.

In the past, there were three laws made in Taiwan to regular AHR, with the earliest being passed in 1986. However, over the years, these laws have met challenges from new technology and the change of public opinion, and can not provide sufficient protection for the rights of all parties concerned in AHR surgery.

This article introduces how the "Artificial Reproduction Act" has come to exist in its current form. Since 1995, issues regarding surrogate mothers, cloning and extracting sperm posthumously have been factors that contributed to the various changes in the design of the act. While many hail the new act as a landmark in the development of women's health, gender equality and human rights in Taiwan, others accuse it as discriminating against single and unmarried people. In general, law experts and opinion leaders agree that some aspects of the act need to be improved. For example, the act limits the number of embryos implanted in the mother's body to four, while in other countries no more than two embryos are allowed in order to better protect mothers.

Finally, according to this article, a clause is included in the new act to form a consultation committee, which is charged with overseeing the implementation of the act and research into social and moral ramifications of new reproduction technologies. The act stipulates that at least half of the committee members will be female.