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Could tougher regulations around the use and handling of donor sperm have prevented the fallout devastating former clients of Dr. Norman Barwin’s Broadview Fertility Clinic?
It is difficult to say, but at the very least tighter rules might have limited the damage. And they are badly needed in Canada, experts in the field argue.
In fact, a series of standards developed by the Canadian Standards Association, which would tighten rules around sperm and egg banks, have been accepted by the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons, which regulates doctors in the province, and are soon expected to be in place.
They would give the college more control over sperm and egg banks to ensure sperm donors are properly screened, samples are properly stored and that information about them is recorded and kept, among other things.
Dr. Arthur Leader, an Ottawa gynecologist, professor and co-founder of the Ottawa Fertility Clinic, who is chair of the Canadian Standards Association subcommittee on assisted reproduction, says the standards will bring better regulation to the industry.
Currently, semen regulations focus on screening donated sperm for sexually transmitted diseases, including Hepatitis, gonorrhea and HIV.
Under the new regulations, donor eggs and embryos would also be screened for infectious diseases. As well, donor sperm, eggs and embryos would undergo genetic testing if they are from communities known to be carriers of some illnesses.
Critically, the new standards would ban employees of clinics or their family members from becoming donors.
When adopted in Ontario, that would give the college of physicians the power to shut down clinics that break the rules.
If the standards are adopted Canada-wide, as Leader hopes they will be, there would be criminal penalties for failing to comply with the regulations.
What that means, among other things, is that fertility doctors who mix up sperm or use their own sperm to inseminate patients could be criminally charged.
“Currently, the only way to get compensation is through civil court,” Leader says.
“Not that that takes away from the fact that it was pretty awful,” Leader says of the allegations against Barwin.
The new standards could also help prevent issues such as the sperm donor who was later found to suffer from schizophrenia and narcissistic personality disorder. His donated sperm was used to help dozens of women conceive, including some in Canada, who sued the sperm bank they used, Georgia-based Xytex Corp. His sperm has been used to create at least 36 children, according to media reports: 19 boys and 17 girls from 26 families, including some in Canada.
Because it is illegal to pay men to donate sperm in Canada, the majority of donor sperm used in this country comes from the United States. It is currently illegal to pay for donated sperm, eggs or surrogates in Canada, but that could change with a private member’s bill now before Parliament.
Wendy Kramer, who created the Colorado-based Donor Sibling registry with her donor-conceived son, Ryan, says better oversight is needed in the U.S. as well, which is largely regulated on a voluntary basis. Since most donor sperm comes from the U.S., she notes, that has a direct impact on Canadians.
“It is all about money. It is a multibillion-dollar industry with almost no regulation and no oversight. What could possibly go wrong?”
“It is a multibillion-dollar industry with almost no regulation and no oversight. What could possibly go wrong?”
Among other things, she said, there is no real understanding of how many donor-conceived people there are, nor of how often a single donor’s sperm is used.
“Nobody is keeping track.”
And she says cases such as Barwin’s, in which a fertility doctor used his own sperm, are not unusual.
“Unfortunately, this kind of case is not uncommon.”
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
It is difficult to say, but at the very least tighter rules might have limited the damage. And they are badly needed in Canada, experts in the field argue.
In fact, a series of standards developed by the Canadian Standards Association, which would tighten rules around sperm and egg banks, have been accepted by the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons, which regulates doctors in the province, and are soon expected to be in place.
They would give the college more control over sperm and egg banks to ensure sperm donors are properly screened, samples are properly stored and that information about them is recorded and kept, among other things.
Dr. Arthur Leader, an Ottawa gynecologist, professor and co-founder of the Ottawa Fertility Clinic, who is chair of the Canadian Standards Association subcommittee on assisted reproduction, says the standards will bring better regulation to the industry.
Currently, semen regulations focus on screening donated sperm for sexually transmitted diseases, including Hepatitis, gonorrhea and HIV.
Under the new regulations, donor eggs and embryos would also be screened for infectious diseases. As well, donor sperm, eggs and embryos would undergo genetic testing if they are from communities known to be carriers of some illnesses.
Critically, the new standards would ban employees of clinics or their family members from becoming donors.
When adopted in Ontario, that would give the college of physicians the power to shut down clinics that break the rules.
If the standards are adopted Canada-wide, as Leader hopes they will be, there would be criminal penalties for failing to comply with the regulations.
What that means, among other things, is that fertility doctors who mix up sperm or use their own sperm to inseminate patients could be criminally charged.
“Currently, the only way to get compensation is through civil court,” Leader says.
“Not that that takes away from the fact that it was pretty awful,” Leader says of the allegations against Barwin.
The new standards could also help prevent issues such as the sperm donor who was later found to suffer from schizophrenia and narcissistic personality disorder. His donated sperm was used to help dozens of women conceive, including some in Canada, who sued the sperm bank they used, Georgia-based Xytex Corp. His sperm has been used to create at least 36 children, according to media reports: 19 boys and 17 girls from 26 families, including some in Canada.
Because it is illegal to pay men to donate sperm in Canada, the majority of donor sperm used in this country comes from the United States. It is currently illegal to pay for donated sperm, eggs or surrogates in Canada, but that could change with a private member’s bill now before Parliament.
Wendy Kramer, who created the Colorado-based Donor Sibling registry with her donor-conceived son, Ryan, says better oversight is needed in the U.S. as well, which is largely regulated on a voluntary basis. Since most donor sperm comes from the U.S., she notes, that has a direct impact on Canadians.
“It is all about money. It is a multibillion-dollar industry with almost no regulation and no oversight. What could possibly go wrong?”
“It is a multibillion-dollar industry with almost no regulation and no oversight. What could possibly go wrong?”
Among other things, she said, there is no real understanding of how many donor-conceived people there are, nor of how often a single donor’s sperm is used.
“Nobody is keeping track.”
And she says cases such as Barwin’s, in which a fertility doctor used his own sperm, are not unusual.
“Unfortunately, this kind of case is not uncommon.”
epayne@postmedia.com
查看原文...
