“The case is causing a commotion!” In Italy, a couple “received an embryo produced by donor IVF through the post”.
This infertile couple wanted to have heterologous IVF[1], but the lack of donors in Italy led them to consider Spain, “where there are notoriously more oocyte donors given the remuneration associated with the procedure”. The father’s sperm was sent to a gamete bank in Spain where IVF took place using a donor oocyte. The embryo was then “frozen and posted” to a “private medical centre in Turin” with a view to being “implanted into the uterus of the intended mother”. This approach is justified by specialists who explain that “thawing an embryo prior to implantation is more straightforward than thawing an oocyte”.
The announcement has “caused a commotion” in Italy. The media are referring to “low cost” IVF. The “procedure” costs €5,000 and “saves” parents “travelling and accommodation costs, medical appointments and time off work”.
Currently, “8,000 Italian couples venture abroad every year in an attempt to resolve their infertility problems”. As in France, the CECOS[2] complain of a lack of donors, which they explain as follows: “If donors do not receive any bonus or reimbursement for donating their oocytes in Italy, we will run out of raw material”.
[1] Authorised since 2014 in Italy, this is In-Vitro Fertilisation with gamete donation.
[2] Centre d’Etudes et de Conservation des Œufs et du Sperme (Egg and Sperm Study and Preservation Centre)
Le Quotidien du Médecin (28/07/2015)