Four embryos that have been frozen since 2019 have to be left in cold storage despite being put up for adoption because Malta’s adoption agencies lack the licences to process them.
The embryos were donated last year after the couple who created them ended their relationship and decided they did not want to use them to try for another child.
These embryos will remain cryopreserved at the MDH ART Clinic until a legal solution is found- Embryo Protection Authority
Changes to the law regulating in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) in 2018 allowed for embryo freezing on condition that prospective parents agree to give up unclaimed embryos for adoption.
However, the Embryo Protection Authority discovered a legal hurdle when the couple wrote in April last year to inform it “that these embryos can now be given up for adoption”.
In its annual report published this week, the Embryo Protection Authority said that the “current licences held by the local adoption agencies both public and private do not cater for embryo adoption”.
Meetings are under way with the state advocate office and the Social Care Standards Authority to resolve the issue.
The four embryos will remain under the custody of the Embryo Protection Authority at Mater Dei Hospital’s ART (Assisted Reproductive Therapy) clinic until a legal solution is found.
Total of 561 embryos cryopreserved
The report noted that, at the end of 2022, there were a total of 561 embryos cryopreserved – frozen at very low temperatures to be preserved.
All prospective parents, except this one couple, expressed their willingness to make use of their cryopreserved embryos. These included prospective parents that already gave birth through IVF and prospective parents that hoped to give birth from embryos produced through previous cycles.
The report noted that, following the introduction of embryo adoption in 2018, in July last year a legal notice was published laying down that, in such cases, the Adoption Administration Board would make recommendations to the Embryo Protection Authority regarding the eligibility and suitability of a prospective parent or parents relative to adoption of an embryo.
But since Malta’s adoption agencies are not licensed to deal with embryos, the embryos cannot be passed on to them to process the adoption.
“Although this issue is beyond the control of the EPA Authority, we are in constant contact with the State Advocate Office lawyers to solve this issue and these four embryos can be given up for adoption. Meanwhile, these embryos will remain cryopreserved at the MDH ART Clinic until a legal solution is found,” the report said.
The report showed that 90 pregnancies resulted from 274 in-vitro fertilisation cycles carried out last year. Ultimately, 32 babies were born while another 44 pregnancies are still ongoing, resulting in a ‘take home baby rate’ of 27.74 per cent, a 7.12 per cent increase over the 2021 rate.
The report noted a dramatic increase in interest in fertility treatments last year. The EPA received 1,513 applications for fertility treatments that year, with all but three approved.
Treatments ranged from IVF and cryopreserved embryo treatment cycles to oocyte stimulation and Intra Uterine Inseminations (IUI – sperm injected into the women’s uterus).
23 foreign sperm donors approved in Malta
A total of 197 requests were received by the authority for IUIs in 2022, a 72 per cent increase over the 114 requests made in 2021.
All the 197 approvals were issued and included the approval of three requests from same-sex female prospective parents who made use of donor sperm and nine approvals for heterosexual prospective parents who made use of donor sperm. The remaining 185 approvals were issued to heterosexual prospective parents who made use of their own partner sperm.
In total, 23 foreign sperm donors were approved in Malta. In four instances, the sperm was sent back after the Incident Reporting Platform
from MDH’s ART Clinic was sparked by a report from the supplying donor sperm bank noting that the donor was under investigation for genetic disorders in a child already born in another country.
In two of the cases, the prospective parent had made use of the donor sperm before it could be stopped and they were counselled about this matter. In all four cases, the authority took the necessary measures to block the donors.
Medication refunds
For the very first time, in 2022, the authority started receiving applications for the approval of refund of medications used in medical assisted procreation for patients undergoing treatment on the NHS.
A total of 248 applications were received and approved by the authority with a total of €458,534 being refunded.
In 2013, the Embryo Protection Authority was set up to regulate fertility services in Malta and free IVF services started to be offered at Malta’s public hospital.
That law was amended in 2018, when it upped the number of eggs that could be fertilised to five, allowed sperm and egg donation, allowed access to IVF for gay and single women and introduced the freezing of embryos.
The most recent 2022 amendments increased the eligibility age for IVF from 42 to 45, extended IVF to those who already have a child and facilitated embryo adoption. More controversially, it introduced genetic tests for rare, severe genetic conditions on IVF embryos before they are planted into the womb.