Parliament seeks public input on test-tube babies legislation

Kenyans have the next 10 days to make their views known to the National Assembly on the emotive ethical and scientific debate over in vitro fertilisation.

The public has been invited to let MPs know what they think about a Bill that proposes to have the practice, in which conception is induced outside a woman’s body through an assisted reproductive technology, anchored in law for safety and other considerations.

In vitro fertilisation involves joining a man’s sperm and a woman’s egg in a laboratory dish, then transferring the embryo to the woman’s uterus.
The Bill before Parliament – In Vitro Fertilisation Bill, 2014 – was drafted by Mbita MP Millie Odhiambo-Mabona.

The Bill is an attempt to address concerns about infertility in society where it is argued that many women of reproductive age in Kenya suffer from infertility, hence their only chance to conceive would be through in vitro fertilisation (test-tube babies).

Mrs Mabona said she proposed the Bill upon becoming aware that Kenya lacks laws to regulate modern human reproduction technologies, in particular in vitro fertilisation.

“The stark reality is that Kenyans continue to enter into arrangements involving modern reproductive technologies in spite of the absence of a legal regime for their regulation,” she said.

Currently, no practical and procedural guidelines and provisions for the practice are provided for in the country’s legal framework. Laws touching on health care provision and practice are silent on the procedure.

The MP says many women who would like to go for in vitro fertilisation rely on doctors who may not be qualified to undertake the procedure.

The member argues that even though it is an individual decision, the process stops being a private matter with the intervention of a third party in assisted reproduction, and hence warrants legislative intervention.

She says the State has a legitimate interest in restricting the regulation of reproductive freedom where there is demonstrable harm or negative impact on society. “Also, due to reliance on technology in assisted reproduction, the State has a legitimate interest in ensuring high standards of treatment, with a view to enhancing safety and protecting individuals from exposure to high levels of risk,” she says.

The Bill makes provisions to address legal voids in the area of in vitro fertilisation, concerns likely to arise from the society such as consent necessary before one undergoes the process, regulation of the handling of embryos resulting from the process, and the protection of identity.

It also addresses the status and welfare of children borne from the process, obligations of those seeking to undertake the process, and their status as parents upon obtaining children through the process.

Mrs Mabona said the intention is to have the Bill address the challenges and strengthen the practice of doctors. “This will not only enhance in vitro fertilisation surveillance but will also strengthen control and avoid losses,” she says.

Key provisions include establishment of an In Vitro Fertilisation Authority to regulate the process. The authority would particularly deal with development of standards, regulations and guidelines on the procedure.

The Bill was referred to the National Assembly’s Health Committee which will scrutinise its provisions before reporting back to the House, ahead of the plenary debate in the Assembly.