Some California couples go through in vitro fertilization to start families. In some cases, they may be left with unused embryos they wish to donate. A new state law advances embryo donation for the donors who helped in the embryo creation process.
New law codifies embryo donation
Embryo donation is a selfless thing to do, but a new law protects intended parents by ensuring that the donors will never be considered the legal parents of any children produced through donation. The only exception is if the donor wished to be a parent.
The new addition to the law also stresses that the egg and sperm donors – if they were not provided by the original embryo owners – must also give consent for the embryo donation. While most people use their own gametes to create embryos, some do not have that luxury such as infertile individuals or couples, older women or those who’ve had hysterectomies or LGBTQ couples.
Before, this law only applied to donor eggs and donor sperm. The addition to the California Family Code was unanimously passed and handed over to Governor Gavin Newsom, who promptly signed the bill.
There’s still more work needed
While this is a good addition to California’s existing laws, experts in the assisted reproduction field say that more work needs to be done. With so many people and couples needing fertility assistance services to start their families, it’s only natural for many to turn to donations to accomplish that. However, there are also many legal ramifications associated with using donor eggs, donor sperm and donor embryos that require protections for all involved parties. In some cases, one donor might give the green light to embryo donation while the other objects.
If you need help having a child, donor embryos might be the right way to do so. However, you have plenty of options.
