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Fertility Centre to Dispose of Frozen Embryos

Thousands of preserved human embryos will be disposed of next week following the implementation of a federal law that bars fertility clinics from conducting this medical procedure on religious grounds.

The Dubai Gynaecology and Fertility Centre that stores an estimated 5,000 eggs fertilised through In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) will start the disposal procedure next week, according to a notice issued by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA). Another 5,000 frozen embryos are believed to be stored at the Al Tawam Hospital in Al Ain.

The law that was passed by the Federal National Council two years ago rejected the medical procedure on religious grounds, fearing mixing in the lineage.

It was also unclear how the fertilised eggs would be disposed of since DHA did not provide any details on the issue on Sunday. “Recognised scientific methods will be used to complete the procedure,” read the notice.

This move is expected to affect several families, who have sanctioned the storing of the embryos. In normal circumstances, the centre asks for the couple’s consent before disposing of any stored egg.

“It is a huge and drawn out process and this will definitely affect many women psychologically,” opined a senior gynaecologist, who did wished not to be named. “The fertilised eggs can be valuable any time since surrogacy and adoption are becoming a common practice the world over. Women need to have the option of having to choose fertility methods,” added the gynaecologist.

The Dubai centre has been freezing embryos for over nine years and charges an annual maintenance fee.

Private clinics in the emirate are banned from carrying out the IVF procedure and freezing embryos, leaving the Dubai centre as the only option. Many a times, patients have to wait for years to avail themselves of the facility. Other emirates, however, continue to offer IVF treatments but not storage of embryos.

Since its inception in 1991, the centre has served thousands of couples with fertility problems. In 2008, the first ‘designer baby’ in the country was born to a UAE couple with fertility issues after they received treatment at the centre. However, the gender selection process was done only on two conditions: family balancing and genetic complications.

Frozen embryos are artificially implanted in women who cannot conceive naturally.

The extra embryos (those left over after the transfer of fresh embryos following IVF) can be frozen and have been known to be viable for up to 10 years. Embryos are stored in industry-standard cryo-storage tanks that are monitored regularly for liquid nitrogen level.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com