Assisted reproductive technologies and embryo donation: To be or not to be?

ABSTRACT

Embryo donation is a more recent method of infertility treatment whereby In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) can be carried out using the embryo of third persons. Embryo donors can be IVF patients who still have some cryopreserved embryos after childbirth and have given a written informed consent to use that surplus of their embryos to other infertile couples or single women. The beneficiary of embryo donation programs is a specific subpopulation of infertile couples (married couples or couples in a long-term relationship) with following characteristics: infertile male and infertile female without normal functioning ovaries, but normal uterus; infertile male and infertile female without normal functioning ovaries and uterus; or single infertile female with or without normal functioning reproductive organs. Often the embryo donation is related with surrogacy, underscoring the role of surrogate motherhood in assisted reproductive technologies. Embryo donation is not legal in Armenia yet. However, it is legal in many countries in the world, including USA, Canada, and Russia. In Europe embryo donation is allowed in 15 of 27 EU Member States. The variety of regulations in Europe has given rise to an important phenomenon of cross-border reproductive care (reproductive tourism). There are a number of reasons why patients seek РТ care internationally rather than obtaining the services in their own country of residence. Due to specific laws certain countries are encouraging reproductive tourism (Spain, Thailand, Singapore, India, Iran). In Armenia more liberal laws are necessary in order to assist many couples with specific problems of infertility of both partners. Thus, the embryo donation is an important step towards a) addressing the psychological and social problems of infertile couples, b) preventing many cases of divorce and c) solving demographic problems of the country.