IVF facilities for third-party donation not yet completed

Jeremy Micallef Following the new law coming into force, the necessary facilities, procedures and processes are being put in place for the ART Clinic at Mater Dei to be able to cater for third party donations, thereby enabling IVF for lesbian couples, a spokesperson for the Ministry for Health told this newspaper.

“Discussions with international institutions regarding the provision of donor gametes are ongoing,” The Malta Independent on Sunday was told.

The Embryo Protection Act was approved by Parliament in June 2018, amending the first IVF legislation which became law in Malta in 2012. The original law had

stipulated that IVF could only be provided to adult heterosexual couples who were either married or in a stable relationship.

The most recent Act controversially introduced embryo freezing and adoption. The proposed Act had originally included altruistic surrogacy but it was subsequently announced that this would form part of a separate Bill. Provisions ensuring the anonymity of gamete and ova donation were also partially amended, allowing those born through assisted reproduction to discover their biological parents once they have turned 18. The law prohibits discrimination against single and/or LGBTIQ people.

The inclusion of embryo freezing had been criticised by both the Opposition and the Catholic Church, which warned that it would be the first step towards legalising abortion. The then President of Malta, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, had said at the time that such a polarised debate “did not constructively contribute to a holistic understanding of the human, social, ethical and medical implications at stake.”

According to a Parliamentary question posed by PN MP Claudio Grech to the Health Minister in May, a total of 309 babies have been born as a result of IVF procedure since 2013.

The data, which is available up to 2018, was separated on a year-by-year basis and shows that 2015 was the year in which most babies were born through an IVF procedure – with the number standing at 72 – while there were 62 babies born in 2016 and 61 in 2017. There were 43 babies born as a result of IVF in 2018 – the same number as in 2014.

In reply to a separate parliamentary question, also posed by Claudio Grech, Health Minister Chris Fearne tabled data from the Embryo Protection Authority which showed that 249 IVF cycles had been carried out in 2018 – 205 of which were at Mater Dei Hospital and 44 at St James Hospital.