Cattapan Alana, Baylis Françoise
Novel Tech Ethics, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, 1379 Seymour Street, PO Box 15000, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 4R2.
Reprod Biomed Soc Online. 2016 May 12;1(2):104-112. doi: 10.1016/j.rbms.2016.04.002. eCollection 2015 Dec.
The matter of 'abandoned embryos' arises when surplus IVF embryos are frozen and stored for later use. If the fertility clinic or storage facility in question does not have clear direction about what to do with these embryos, and/or payment for storage ceases, and/or the embryo providers cannot be reached, the embryos raise an ethical and practical challenge. On the one hand, there is a commitment to respect the autonomy of embryo providers to determine what should happen to their frozen embryos. On the other hand, there are weighty reasons why fertility clinics and storage facilities do not want responsibility, potentially in perpetuity, for other people's frozen embryos. This article examines the matter of 'abandoned embryos' - the emergence of the term, its use in policy and law, and its implications in the Canadian case. We demonstrate that despite an intricate legislative framework, there are important gaps that leave fertility clinics and storage facilities in the tenuous position of discarding 'abandoned embryos' without clear authorization, or storing them indefinitely. We argue that clarity in consent procedures coupled with flexible time limits on embryo storage provide an approach that can best serve the interests of all involved.
当多余的体外受精胚胎被冷冻保存以备后用时，“废弃胚胎”问题便会出现。如果相关的生育诊所或储存机构对于如何处理这些胚胎没有明确指示，和/或储存费用停止支付，和/或无法联系到胚胎提供者，这些胚胎就会引发伦理和实际挑战。一方面，有义务尊重胚胎提供者自主决定其冷冻胚胎的去向。另一方面，生育诊所和储存机构有充分理由不想对他人的冷冻胚胎承担责任，而且这种责任可能是永久性的。本文探讨“废弃胚胎”问题——该术语的出现、其在政策和法律中的应用以及在加拿大案例中的影响。我们表明，尽管有复杂的立法框架，但仍存在重要漏洞，使生育诊所和储存机构处于一种脆弱的境地，即在没有明确授权的情况下丢弃“废弃胚胎”，或者无限期地储存它们。我们认为，明确的同意程序加上灵活的胚胎储存时间限制提供了一种能够最好地服务于所有相关方利益的方法。
