Paris - France risks a shortage of frozen
sperm if lawmakers approve new legislation that allows single
women and lesbian couples access to in-vitro fertilisation (IVF)
and abolishes the right of sperm and egg donors to keep their
identities secret, clinicians said.
Lawmakers in the country's National Assembly on Tuesday
start debating a bioethics bill that unwinds some of western
Europe's strictest rules governing medically-assisted
pregnancies, a campaign promise of President Emmanuel Macron.
Under existing law in France, IVF is available only to
opposite-sex couples, and only for reasons of infertility or the
risk of transmission of a disease or medical condition to the
child or either parent.
Health Minister Agnes Buzyn forecasts a roughly two-thirds
increase in demand for IVF procedures, with an extra 2,000 women
annually registering for treatment.
Couples already wait an average of 12 months from
registration to their first attempt at IVF. Clinicians at
France's network of public sperm banks (CECOS) said the supply
of cryopreserved sperm only just meets demand.
Moreover, they predict lifting donor anonymity could prompt
three-quarters of registered male and female donors to deny
clinics the use of their sperm and eggs under the new rules.
"To say 'everything is going to be ok' would be burying your
head in the sand," Nathalie Rives, president of the CECOS
federation, told Reuters.
"There will be a period of instability, with increased
demand and the need to recruit new donors. We don't know how
long this instability will last and whether there will be a
shortage."
The bioethics bill, which would also allow women to freeze
their eggs for non-medical reasons to enhance their chances of
having children, is Macron's first major societal reform.
Medically assisted reproduction - such as IVF - is widely
available to all women in countries such as Britain, Belgium,
Spain. But in France, it has fed into a broader debate about the
commercialization of healthcare and gay rights.
"The right to know one’s origins is a vital right, a
fundamental right,” said Arthur Kermalvezen, 35, who turned to
DNA tests to track down his biological father and has campaigned
for the lifting of anonymity.
The legalisation of gay marriage in France six years ago
sparked massive street protests even though the influence of the
Catholic Church was thought to be in decline.
In a sign France has become more socially liberal, polls
show a majority of French people back the bioethics reform.
Professor Rachel Levy, who runs the CECOS centre at the
Tenon Hospital in Paris, said donor anonymity would remain in
place for 13 months after the legislation comes into effect in
an effort to help sperm banks build up stocks.
There would then be a second phase during which existing
donors would say if they consent to their cryopreserved sperm
being used under the new rules. The samples of those who refuse
will be destroyed later.
"It's a challenging situation," Levy said.