HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY ACT 1991 - SECT 26
HUMAN REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY ACT 1991 - SECT 26
26 . Control, dealing and disposal in relation to an egg in process of fertilisation or an embryo
(1a) This section does
not apply in relation to an excess ART embryo except in relation to the use of
such an embryo that is an exempt use as defined in section 53W(2).
(1) Subject to
section 24(4), in relation to rights to the control of, or power to deal with
or dispose of, any human egg undergoing fertilisation or human embryo that is
outside the body of a woman —
(a) each
person on whose behalf it is developed or is being or is to be, kept has,
subject to section 53Q, the right to decide how a human egg undergoing
fertilisation or a human embryo is to be dealt with or disposed of, so that
—
(i)
such a person shall have, while storage continues, the
right to review the decision to store from time to time and may withdraw
consent or vary the terms of any consent; and
(ii)
any question as to the nature or extent of the respective
rights or powers may, subject to subsection (2), be referred to a court of
competent jurisdiction;
and
(b) in
the event of the death of one member of a couple in whom the rights are
vested, those rights vest solely in the survivor; and
(c)
where from any human gametes, a human egg undergoing fertilisation or a human
embryo is developed, whether or not with effective consent, the individual
rights of a human gamete provider or person to whom the human gametes were
provided and of a licensee cease at the moment fertilisation begins and the
rights thereafter vest jointly in the couple on whose behalf that egg or
embryo was developed, or vest in the woman on whose behalf that egg or embryo
was developed; and
(d)
where a human egg undergoing fertilisation or a human embryo has been
developed on behalf of a couple or a woman and is no longer required for that
purpose, the egg may be used if all the participants in a proposed procedure
give an effective consent; and
(e) on
the commencement of an implantation procedure the rights in a human egg
undergoing fertilisation or a human embryo vest in the woman receiving it,
whether or not —
(i)
that recipient was eligible to undergo the procedure; or
(ii)
any consent required was given or, if given, was
effective.
(2) Where rights in
relation to a human egg undergoing fertilisation or a human embryo are vested
in a couple and the couple disagree about its use or continued storage, the
CEO shall, on application by a member of that couple, direct the licensee
storing the egg or embryo to ensure that the storage is maintained subject to
—
(a)
payment of the proper charges of the licensee for the storage; and
(b) any
limitation as to the time of storage prescribed or determined in accordance
with section 24(1)(b); and
(c) any
order made by a court of competent jurisdiction which otherwise requires.
[Section 26 amended: No. 3 of 2002 s. 76; No. 17
of 2004 s. 20; No. 18 of 2004 s. 7; No. 28 of 2006 s. 270(1).]