Michelle, biochemist at inviTRA, talks to us about the legal aspects of reciprocal IVF:
Well, when we look at this process, basically, the woman who is going to provide the genetic load is acting as an egg donor for her partner. Depending on the country or possibly the state where you live, there may be laws governing this. In Spain for example, the law states that egg donation is a totally anonymous and altruistic process. However, if you are in a legally binding relationship and if you're married, this process is allowed to occur. If you do not have some sort of legally binding relationship you will not be able to donate your eggs to your partner. As I've said, it does depend on the specific country you live in, so you do need to consult with legal advice and your clinic may help you with this information. In the United Kingdom, the rules about this process are governed by the HFEA and, if the procedure is carried out in a licensed clinic, the woman providing the eggs doesn't have to be a registered egg donor if they are donating to their partner. Being married or in a legally binding civil relationship really helps to facilitate this process. In the United States, as you can choose your egg donor and indeed your sperm donor, the issue of the woman donating her egg is not a problem. However, you do need to make sure you think about the sperm donor and, if you use a known sperm donor, that maybe you need a sperm donor agreement to make sure that that person does not have the parental rights over the baby. When using a reciprocal IVF, ROPA IVF, Co IVF... do always take legal advice to make sure both of you will be the legal parents and guardians of the child.
