New Zealand couples who have surplus IVF embryos will be able to donate them to other infertile couples under proposed new guidelines.
Now couples who have embryos left over after their treatment can keep them in storage - normally up to 10 years - or have themdestroyed.
The new option, which has been released for public consultation, has the support of the Catholic Church and the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child.
The proposal for embryo donation was prompted by an application on behalf of the country's fertility clinics, which have 17 couples willing to donate their surplus embryos. There are another 10 to 15 couples whose only chance at pregnancy is through a donated embryo.
It is included in the Guidelines for the Practice of Embryo Donation for Reproductive Purposes consultation document, released this week by the National Ethics Committee on Assisted Human Reproduction.
Committee chairwoman, Professor Sylvia Rumball, said the guidelines were being distributed widely, in order to encourage public debate.
The proposed guidelines state a donor couple may not donate embryos until at least two years after the completion of their own families and may donate embryos to create up to two families only.
FERTILITY PATH
* Five to eight eggs are normally fertilised during in-vitro treatment.
* Two embryos are transferred back into the woman and the rest frozen for future pregnancies.
* Fertility clinics say they have 17 couples willing to donate surplus embryos, and 10 to 15 couples whose only chance at pregnancy is a donated embryo.
