Following six years of negotiations on religious and moral issues, a law governing medically assisted reproduction came into effect in Morocco on 04 April. MAR has already been practised in the country for several years, but without any legislative framework. “This text aims to lay down the general principles governing medically assisted reproduction, and in particular respect for the dignity of the individual and the preservation of his or her life, physical and psychological integrity, and privacy, as well as the confidentiality of his or her personal data”. It also provides for “criminalizing practices that undermine human dignity or the integrity of the human species, or that would exploit the reproductive functions of human beings for commercial purposes or to conceive a human embryo for research or experimentation, and thus, by prohibiting such experiments, reproductive cloning, eugenics, and the donation or sale of gametes, as well as banning surrogacy”.
The 19 existing centres will now be required to receive approval validating the standards of their facilities, and practitioners will have to be accredited: they will be required to demonstrate their appropriate qualifications. A one-year transition period will allow institutions and physicians to meet these requirements. Artificial inseminations will be banned in gynaecology offices. All acts of the MAR must be reported to the State. Close monitoring and penalties of imprisonment and prohibition from practising medicine are established for doctors who perform such acts while “failing” to declare them.
PMA is reserved for male-female couples who are married, living, and using their own gametes. The major changes include the administrative recognition of infertility, and the recognition of infertility as a medical speciality. “Several doctors mistakenly considered themselves specialists, (…) patients must now turn to professionals who have the approval of the health authorities” explains biologist Seif El Islam Slimani, Vice-President of the Moroccan College of Fertility. A post-MAR pregnancy costs on average between 40,000 and 60,000 dirhams[1], but the financial coverage will remain the same: about 5,000 dirhams[2].
1] Between approximately €3,689 and €5,534.
[2] i.e. about €461.
Libération, Hassan Bentaleb (13/04/2019)
Media24, Samir El Ouardighi (12/04/2019)