The facilities that provide egg cryopreservation services are relatively mainstream IVF clinics or private agencies, and uniformly are members of the Society for Assistive Reproductive Technology (SART).
A woman giving her informed consent to egg freezing needs legal advice on issues such as medical procedural risks, disposition of eggs in case of incapacity or death, medical risks to the child born of egg cryopreservation, multiple births, posthumous use of frozen egg and egg donation.
With egg cryopreservation and egg banking, there needs to be clear consent in the event of death, incapacity, or posthumous reproduction. If she should divorce, are the eggs the property of the donor, donor’s husband or ex-husband, or the egg bank? Does the limitation on the donor due to health reasons or due to quantity of eggs create different circumstances?
In Pennsylvania, this particular question has had an impact on the disposition of cryopreserved pre-embryos. In Reber v. Reiss, the Superior Court granted pre-embryos to a divorced spouse to pursue biological parenthood contrary to the biological father’s right to destroy the pre-embryos. Will this precedent have the same impact on cryopreserved eggs in Pennsylvania? Time will tell.
With egg donation, a legal agreement directly between recipients and donor establish important issues such as future contact, medical exchange of information, expenses, parental rights, embryo disposition, medical genetic and psychological screenings, conduct of parties, disposition in the event of death, divorce or separation and dispute resolution is encouraged. Although egg freezing brings with it a new set of legal and ethical challenges, it provides any woman today with more reproductive and family-building options.
When dealing with legal issues as a result of infertility, you should speak to an attorney experienced in the knowledge of Assisted Reproductive Technology Law as well as Family or Estate Planning Law, as all of these potential legal issues may be applicable to your personal situation and understanding the law and your options is paramount in the forefront of your journey.
heARTbeat is a publication of KingSpry’s Adoption Law and Assisted Reproductive Technology Law Practice Group. It is meant to be informational and does not constitute legal advice.
