Divorce after freezing embryos Husband wants to give up embryos rejected? The Hunan Provincial Health Commission responded

After Tang Xiaobing of Jishou in Hunan Province did IVF, he encountered a difficult thing - he wanted to give up the 10 embryos he had previously saved in the hospital, but the hospital did not agree. The hospital's reason is also simple: both sides of the IVF need to be present to process the embryos.

Tang Xiaobing felt that he had divorced his ex-wife at this time, and he could not contact his ex-wife, so should he let the hospital keep the embryos of the two of them all the time? Tang Xiaobing immediately contacted the Xiaoxiang Morning News reporter, hoping to get help.

Recently, Tang Xiaobing (pseudonym) of Jishou has contacted the medical department of Changsha Reproductive Hospital several times, saying that he and his ex-wife have divorced and hope to immediately give up the 10 IVF embryos saved in the hospital. The hospital believes that the abandonment of embryos needs to strictly follow the process, and Tang Xiaobing and his ex-wife need to be present at the same time to confirm.

Tang Xiaobing told reporters that after the divorce, he was blocked by his ex-wife and could not get in touch with her. The couple had previously had IVF in the hospital, how to deal with the remaining embryos after the divorce?

In this regard, on February 21, the Medical Administration Office of the Provincial Health Commission also made an answer: if you want to give up the embryo, you must obtain the consent of both sides, and the hospital's approach is correct.

The person concerned: The ex-wife cannot be contacted, and he has the right to dispose of the embryo

On May 29, 2020, Tang Xiaobing and his ex-wife went to Changsha Fertility Hospital for examination and prepared to do IVF. After taking the drug for 1 month, Tang Xiaobing's ex-wife was hospitalized, began to promote eggs and ovulation, and the hospital then removed Tang Xiaobing's sperm and synthesized embryos.

In July of that year, the first embryo transfer failed, and the doctor suggested that Tang Xiaobing's ex-wife go home to recuperate. During the recuperation period, Tang Xiaobing had a conflict with his ex-wife, and in March last year, the court ruled that the two divorced in the second instance.

During the court's first instance, Tang Xiaobing first proposed to the medical department of Changsha Reproductive Hospital to abandon the embryos still preserved in the hospital. "There are still 10 embryos in the hospital." Tang Xiaobing told reporters, "We have all dissolved the marriage relationship through judicial procedures, and the embryos have no meaning of existence, so I asked the hospital to give up these embryos." ”

According to Tang Xiaobing, before doing IVF, he signed an informed consent form for embryo freezing with his ex-wife, which was kept by the hospital. "At that time, I also paid a deposit of 2,000 yuan to save the embryos, and if the hospital still needs to continue to save the embryos after 6 months, then 100 yuan is deducted from the deposit every month."

Tang Xiaobing told reporters that in the process of communicating with the medical department of the hospital, the medical department staff said that if they decided to give up freezing, they needed to sign the informed consent form at the same time to the hospital to sign and confirm. "The doctor said at the beginning that if I couldn't come to the hospital at the same time, I could come with a power of attorney signed by my ex-wife." Tang Xiaobing said.

Tang Xiaobing believes that in the case of not being able to get in touch with his ex-wife, he has the right to ask the hospital to abandon the embryo because of the ethical and moral issues involved.

On February 22, the reporter got in touch with Tang Xiaobing's ex-wife. She said that she could not reach an agreement with Tang Xiaobing because of the allocation of the 2,000 yuan deposit for frozen embryos, and did not have time to go to Changsha to deal with it, so she has shelved the embryo abandonment.

Health Commission: Exceeding the retention period will be regarded as automatic abandonment

Since November 2020, Tang Xiaobing has been in contact with Dr. Tan of the Medical Department of Changsha Reproductive Hospital through WeChat. On February 21, a reporter from Xiaoxiang Morning News called Dr. Tan.

Dr. Tan told reporters that the hospital has been actively promoting and handling this matter. "We also contacted his (Tang Xiaobing's) ex-wife to find a way to deal with it with a compliant procedure, but her attitude was 'leave it alone', so we had no way to deal with the embryo for the time being."

According to Dr. Tan, the hospital has a strict process for the abandonment of embryos. "There is a limit to the number of years the embryos are kept on the informed consent form, until then the hospital will keep them, and after that, the hospital will process the embryos." In response to Tang Xiaobing's concerns about ethics, Dr. Tan stressed, "There are also strict procedures for handling abandoned embryos, and hospitals will not divert embryos for other purposes." At the same time, Dr. Tan said that without the consent of the parties, the hospital could not inform the reporter of the specific retention period.

On February 21, the reporter called the Medical Administration Department of the Provincial Health Commission. The staff told reporters that when the two signed the embryo freezing informed consent form in the hospital, if they wanted to abandon the embryo, "they must obtain the consent of both sides, and the hospital's approach is correct." The man had no way to destroy the embryo without the woman's consent".

In response to The fact that Tang Xiaobing could not get in touch with his ex-wife after his divorce, a staff member of the Medical Administration Department said: "The embryo has a certain shelf life, and if the woman is still unable to contact after the retention period, the embryo is regarded as automatically abandoned." ”

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Where do the remaining embryos go

For more than 40 years, more than 8 million people have been born with IVF technology worldwide. More than 200,000 IVF babies are born on the mainland every year. As the technology matures, new problems arise – where do the remaining embryos go during IVF?

In the United Kingdom, an institution was established in 1990 to deal with related issues, with a clear shelf life of 10 years and destruction after 10 years. Germany and Italy stipulate that there can be no remaining embryos during the implementation of IVF technology.

Peking Union Medical College Hospital is one of the earliest hospitals in mainland China to carry out IVF technology. A doctor at the hospital told reporters that the liquid nitrogen tank used by the hospital to store embryos had reached saturation. Many embryos have been shelved for more than 10 years, with the longest reaching 30 years. "Multiple embryos are grown in one IVF cycle, and hospitals generally screen out two embryos to implant in the uterus," the doctor said. The remaining embryos are stored in a liquid nitrogen tank and can be reused after successful awakening if needed in the future. In fact, most patients lose contact with the hospital shortly after successful surgery, and the remaining embryos become unowned. At present, the annual cost of preserving an embryo ranges from 1,000 yuan to 3,000 yuan, which can only be paid by the hospital. ”

At present, many institutions in Beijing, Nanjing, Wuhan and other places are facing the same problem. According to some data, the number of unowned embryos in some areas has reached more than 60%. The preservation of the remaining embryos is in a dilemma. But is the shelf life of the embryo really unattainable on the mainland?

The reporter saw from a judgment on the China Judgment Document Network that a "Informed Consent to Voluntary Acceptance of Embryo/Blastocyst Thawing and Transplantation" stated: "If the couple renews the cryopreservation fee after expiration, our hospital will regard you as a couple who have given up the frozen embryos, and the hospital will discard the remaining frozen embryos after 1 month after expiration." "The maximum period of preservation of frozen embryos/blastocysts in the world is generally 5 years, so hospitals can only preserve embryos for a maximum of 5 years."

Since the contract specifies the storage period of the embryos in the hospital, why do some hospitals still not deal with the orphan embryos in a timely manner? One healthcare worker said that each embryo has the potential to develop into an adult, so hospitals will not dispose of these embryos at will.

In fact, the remaining embryos are disposed of according to the preoperative contract and are not legally problematic. Zhu Hu, a professor at the Law School of Chinese Min University, said that for embryos, although they are not human, they cannot be treated as ordinary property. At present, the best way to deal with it should still be to adopt the model of contract, legally recognized, and the hospital should also adjust according to its own situation. Other issues that remain controversial should also be discussed and dealt with by the medical and legal communities.

Source: Xiaoxiang Morning News

Author: Ren Wanwan