Pnm-15: Studying about The legal nature of Embryo donation

Background: Embryo donation is one of the methods of infertility treatment. With this way, Infertile couples use a donated Embryo formed from an egg of another woman and the sperm of another man. The embryo is then placed into the woman’s womb. In order to determine the legal nature of embryo donation, a comparison has been made between this legal institution and those mentioned in our Civil Law. The result will be compared to Article 10 of the Civil Law to begin to determine the rights and obligations of both sides. Materials and Methods: Due to the imperfection of the Law in this regard, general rules of contracts have been used to study the subject of the essay. The method that has been used to write the essay is called descriptive-analytic. Results: Considering the analysis and determination of the procedure of Embryo Donation, it seems that a distinction should be made between the different steps involved. For the first step, the Owners of the sperm and the egg offer their sexual cells to Infertility Centers. During the following step, the egg and the sperm are fertilized in a laboratory environment at an Infertility Center. Then the resulting embryo is transferred to the woman’s womb. The first step, which includes the giving of sperm and egg to Infertility Centers, has reasonable profit and can be done in the form a contract of sale. However, it is not appropriate to call the next step a contract of sale, because it is contrary to Human Dignity. It is actually a step in the treatment process. Conclusion: In order to systematize the legal relations of the parties, the law maker should either accept the act of transferring an embryo from the owners of sperm and egg as a form of a legal institution recognized by Civil Law or define the act by using a new contract.