Gift of Life reiterate stand on IVF, 'no freezing of human embryos'

Pro-lifers Gift of Life have reiterated their stand on in vitro fertilisation, after Nationalist MP Jean Pierre Farrugia took the organisation to task for treating supporters of IVF like ‘criminals’.

In a clarification on their stand on IVF, GoL said they were not against medical assisted reproduction but against the freezing of human embryos. On Tuesday they issued a statement expressing their disagreement with Farrugia’s decision to donate his MP’s salary raise to a fund for the adoption of frozen embryos.

Gift of Life today said it was not against IVF or its regulation and that it “understands the hardship of infertile couples.”

But it added that the “regular creation of ‘excess’ human lives with no certain future, their freezing and the introduction of tax incentives in a bid to solve an avoidable problem is ethically unsound and certainly not ‘pro-life’ as is being suggested by Dr Farrugia.”

Farrugia’s initiative to kick-start a fund for the adoption of frozen embryos stems from proposals of the parliamentary committee on IVF regulation which he chaired, which recommends that excess human embryos created in the IVF process should be adopted.

Gift of Life, which is against the freezing of human embryos, said Farrugia’s initiative confirmed the ‘inevitable’ stockpiling of unwanted embryos.

Farrugia’s committee recommended a compromise to the Cabinet to allow infertile couples the possibility of producing a number of ova that can be fertilised, and implant a limited amount of embryos and freeze the other embryos – which can be used for future cycles in case of failure or new pregnancies, and avoids the risk of multiple pregnancies.

In a bid to reduce the number of frozen embryos that are not used, Farrugia says infertile couples should be fiscally encouraged to adopt them.

Critics of the freezing of embryos, who presented their own recommendations to Farrugia’s committee last year, believe that all ova that are fertilised into embryos should be implanted. This process limits success rates by limiting the production of embryos that are implanted.

“Gift of Life is aware of the complications and risks associated with multiple pregnancies, however it cannot discount the value of human life which is precious and should be respected with equal value at all stages be it at fertilisation, zygote, embryo, foetus, preterm, neonate or any other stage of development until a natural death,” GoL said today.

But Farrugia said on Tuesday in reaction to Gift of Life that an embryo cannot be compared to a foetus that has progressed throughout part of the pregnancy.

Gift of Life also added it had no objection to Dr Jean Pierre Farrugia making a donation to research on Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and that it supported his gesture.