New Zealand
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Key laws and policies
- Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology, Guidelines on Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (March 2005)
Prohibited practices
The 2004 Act prohibits in Schedule 1:
- Human reproductive cloning
- Implantation of chimeras
- Implantation of genetically modified embryos
It also prohibits:
- The development of in vitro embryos beyond 14 days or the appearance of the primitive streak
- Social sex selection
- Sale of embryos and gametes
- Commercial surrogacy(Section 14(3) HART Act): Penalties include imprisonment up to one year or a fine not exceeding $100,000, or both. The current surrogacy guidelines exclude single men and male couples entering into surrogacy arrangements as intending parents.
Permitted and regulated practices
Altruistic Surrogacy
- Surrogacy arrangements are not illegal but not enforceable.
- Reasonable and necessary expenses may be reimbursed.
- The woman giving birth is the legal mother, regardless of who donated the gametes.
- If she is married or has a partner, there may be a legal presumption that her husband, wife or partner is the other parent (s18 of the Status of Children Act).
- Adoption by the commissioning parent/s is necessary to extinguish the birth mother's (and father's/other partner's) legal parenthood (s16(2) of the Adoption Act 1955).
Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis
- PGD may not be used for social reasons, including sex selection, to "alter the genetic constitution of an embryo" or to select for "a genetic impairment seen in a parent."
Posthumous Use of Gametes
- Permitted with consent
Donation of Gametes and Embryos
- Donation of gametes and embryos permitted.
- Must be an altruistic donation. (Reasonable and necessary medical expenses may be paid to the Provider not the surrogate/donor.)
- New Zealand clinics may offer reimbursement to gamete donors for traveling costs in some situations.
- The donor must provide information including:
- General information (name, gender, address, height, eye color), personal/cultural information (place and country of birth, ethnicity and cultural affiliation, whanau, iwi and hapu if Maori), medical history of donor's family (if the provider thinks it is necessary), and why the donor chose to donate
- Offspring over the age of 18 are able to access the information.
Egg Donation
Ethical approval from ECART is required for egg donation if:
- Egg donation and collection occurs between some family members.
- If the eggs will be used in conjunction with other donor gametes.
- The donor is under 20 years of age.
- The donor is dead or dies before the procedure is carried out.
Approvals
Ethics Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ECART)
Procedures that require case by case ethical approval include:
- IVF surrogacy
- Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis with Human Leucocyte Antigen tissue typing (i.e. "savior sibling" situations)
- Combined assisted reproductive procedures (i.e. egg donation from a family member with a surrogacy arrangement)
- Creation and use of embryos created from donor sperm and donor eggs
- Donation of eggs and sperm between some family members
- Extending storage of sperm, eggs, and embryos beyond the ten year limitation
External links
- http://ecart.health.govt.nz/ (Ethics Committee)
- http://acart.health.govt.nz/ (Advisory Committee)
- Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Order 2005 (HART Order): http://www.legislation.govt.nz/regulation/public/2005/0181/latest/DLM335192.html?search=ts_act%40bill%40regulation%40deemedreg_Human+Assisted+Reproductive+Technology+Order+2005_resel_25_a&p=1
- NZ Legislation, Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act (2004): http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2004/0092/latest/DLM319241.html