‘Genetic testing of embryos needs serious engagement with experts’

The dean of the University of Malta’s Faculty for Social Wellbeing has asked for a serious engagement with stakeholders over ethical issues concerning PGD – the genetic testing and selection of embryos prior to implantation.

The proposal was floated by health minister and deputy prime minister Chris Fearne on a TV programme in which he called on the Opposition to agree with forthcoming amendments to Malta’s IVF law.

“Given the seriousness of such an intervention we need to ensure that we engage with all the stakeholders taking into cognizance the cultural context of our country in order to guarantee that we are operating in a manner which is in line with our principles and values,” Prof. Andrew Azzopardi said in a faculty statement.

“For countries like the UK it took decades to set up such a service that had to include specialists from the scientific, medical, ethical and social field and to have the necessary infrastructure,” Azzopardi said.

PGD has primarily been used by couples at high risk of transmitting a genetic disease, who use IVF to discard embryos with a hereditary disease.

“While improving success rates for individuals and families longing for children one cannot ignore a troubling trend that is overtaking the global application of PGD technologies and the underlying ideology involved that we need to be vigilant on,” Azzopardi said.

He had previously remarked on social media that PGD could be used to deselect embryos with potential impairment.

“In doing so we would also be accepting an ideology of quality control to achieve perfection and implicitly partake in a judgement on the value of any life that does not meet the faultlessness criteria,” Azzopardi said.

“Whether we like it or not, this ideology inadvertently reflects a modern acceptable version of eugenic thinking from days gone by. There are serious risks and we cannot look away from the moral meaning of what is being taken on board, and reflect. The fanfare of scientific and medical progress must not blind us to these complex issues.”

Despite acknowledging the reality of parents trying to avoid hereditary disease in children, Azzopardi still warned of a “future dominated by the commercial marketing of human genetic technology”, which would raise social expectations for the “perfect baby”.

“The financial, emotional, and human costs of such a trajectory must be seriously considered before making any ethically, culturally, and socially knee-jerk decisions that will impact the future of our children, for generations to come. I appeal to all to be careful that we do not add empty promises to couples who are already taken up with a lot of emotions.”

He also called for more information on what preliminary work had been done before this issue was brought in the public domain, and what legal safeguardes would be developed “to avoid testing for the ‘perfect baby’”.