The Cabinet yesterday approved a draft artificial reproduction law that restricts the application of artificial reproductive technology to the treatment of infertility.
The draft law prohibits the use of artificial reproductive technology in experiments relating to human genetic "improvement" and for commercial purposes.
People who trade in reproductive cells or embryos for profit will be subject to imprisonment of up to two years, with a fine of up to NT$1 million (US$31,847), according to the bill.
Surrogate motherhood, which involves complicated scientific, ethical, legal, social and moral concerns, is not included in the draft law. Artificial insemination that involves only transferring sperm from a husband to his wife is also not regulated in the legislation.
The bill states that men aged between 20 and 50 and women aged between 20 and 40 who have been determined physically fit can donate their reproductive cells for use by infertile couples, but that the reproductive cells from the same donor cannot be provided to more than two couples.
Husbands under 60 and wives under 50, with at least one party having healthy reproductive cells, are eligible to receive the donation, but a couple in which either party suffers from a serious hereditary disease will be required to undergo a physical assessment before they are allowed to receive artificial reproduction, the bill stipulates.
Also, the bill forbids infertile couples from receiving egg or sperm donations from their close relatives, and violators can be jailed for up to five years and fined up to NT$1.5 million.
No selection of the gender of embryos or exchanges of egg and sperm donations will be allowed. Mixed sperm, imported reproductive cells and embryos that have been cultured for more than 14 days are also prohibited.
Donors cannot request the return of the cells they have donated, and medical institutions are required to destroy cells that are determined to be unfit, that have been used once to accomplish a live birth, and that have been stored for more than 10 years.
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