P-42: Who Owns the Frozen Embryos?

Background: Success in assisted reproductive techniques is raising hope for many infertile couples, but as in these techniques many embryos are made, there is no choice other than cryopreservation of the not-transferred embryos. Along with development of these techniques, the number of In-vitro made embryos is rising and the number of transferred embryos is decreasing to prevent multiple gestations both leading to increasing the number of spare embryos which must be kept frozen in the IVF centers. Although it has been reported that cryostorage duration do not adversely affect postthaw survival or pregnancy outcome, the length of time embryos can remain in storage is subject to legislation and differs between countries and even states. Anyway, there is a duration for cryopreservation and so an endpoint for it same as the contracts on cryopreservation of the embryos. It is obvious that at a certain time, owners of frozen embryos must make their decisions about the fate of their embryos, the main problem in Iranian law is: “who is the owner of frozen embryos” the father, the mother or both. This issue is not just limited to the decision about the fate of embryos that can be discarding, donation to other couples or donation for research, there are other situations and problems in which only the owner can make the decision. Situations like divorce, death of one partner, argument between husband and wife, changing the idea or withdrawal of the contract need to exactly clarify who can decide for these embryos and how.Materials and Methods: In this paper we have legal discussion about this issue upon Iran’s civil law and Islam concluding that the owner of the embryo is the cou- Abstracts of the 11th Royan International Congress on Reproductive Biomedicine International Journal of Fertility & Sterility (IJFS), Vol 4, Suppl 1, Summer 2010 70 pleand both of them must decide for the embryos. Results: Meanwhile, the initial contract is necessary and its content is very important, and also the consent of one part (male or female) to the other one for making the decision cannot be accepted. The demand for use the embryos for the owners also shall be made by both partners. Conclusion: It would be better to give a detail consultation to the couples and mention all the possibilities to prevent any misunderstanding leading to the future arguments.