Human Reproduction, Vol. 14, No. 4, 1138-1139,
April 1999
© 1999 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Letters to the Editor |
Cryopreserved embryos
Infertility Treatment Authority, Level 30, 570 Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
Dear Sir,
I write to correct an assumption implicit in a recent case study (Go et al., 1998
). It is heartening to see that there is a case study reported which indicates that the length of storage will not necessarily have an adverse impact on the zygote or embryo in storage. In the article the authors state that cryopreservation has led to the regulation of the storage period for embryos in some countries, and that this is based on concern about the quality of the embryos in extended period of storage.
In Victoria, Australia, the Infertility Treatment Act (1995) stipulates that embryos may remain in storage for a period of up to 5 years, and that an extension in the storage period may be approved by the Infertility Treatment Authority, the statutory body with responsibility for administering the Act. The rationale for the inclusion of this provision in the Act is not based on concerns about deterioration in quality of embryos in storage, rather on the possibility of `embryo banking' which may occur, where embryos remain in storage for extended periods of time and ultimately are not required for use in treatment. The experience in Victoria since the legislation was introduced in fact confirms this view. Approximately 300 couples with embryos in storage have not been able to be contacted to determine their wishes in relation to the fate of those embryos. In many cases those embryos have been in storage for >10 years.
The Victorian imposition of statutory time limits avoids the difficulties faced by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (1990), in the initial application of statutory time limits in the UK (Deech, 1997; Edwards and Beard, 1997). Under the provisions of the Infertility Treatment Act (1990), couples are able to apply for an extension of the time that embryos remain in storage, in order to complete their family or continue to attempt to have a child. The Infertility Treatment Authority approves this extension, and the capacity to approve extensions has allowed additional time to enable clinics to try and trace couples with embryos in storage. To date, 486 applications for an extension in the storage time have been approved.
It is of importance to ensure that the decision making process about cryopreserved embryos remains with the couple who produced them, and that extended periods of storage may in fact dislocate the couple and distance any decision making which may be required. Thus statutory time limits, with a capacity to extend this limit for good reasons, are an important mechanism to ensure that this occurs.
References
Deech, R. (1997) A reply from the chairman of the HFEA. Hum. Reprod., 12, 5–6.
Go, K.J., Corson, S.L., Batzer, F.R. and Walters, J.L. (1998) Case report: live birth from a zygote cryopreserved for 8 years. Hum. Reprod., 13, 2970–2973.
Edwards, R.G. and Beard, H.K. (1997) UK law dictated the destruction of 3000 cryopreserved human embryos. Hum. Reprod., 12, 3–4.
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