Guidelines and advice issued to the Ethics Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology

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Guidelines and advice issued to the Ethics Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology

Some procedures do not need ethical approval on a case-by-case basis - view further information on established procedures (legislation.knowledge-basket.co.nz).

Other procedures can proceed only if the Advisory Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ACART) has issued guidelines or advice to the Ethics Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ECART).

ACART has issued the following guidelines and advice to ECART under section 35 of the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004. Decisions of ECART must be consistent with the guidelines and advice.

Guidelines issued to ECART

Guidelines on Surrogacy Arrangements involving Providers of Fertility Services - Date of publication: November 2007 - Republished November 2008
Surrogacy involves a woman agreeing to carry a child for another couple on the basis that she will pass the child to them to raise from birth*. The woman who will carry the child is called the ‘birth mother', ‘surrogate mother', or ‘gestational surrogate'.

Guidelines on donations of Eggs or Sperm between Certain Family Members - First date of publication: November 2007 - Republished November 2008
Fertility providers need to seek ethical approval from ECART for most cases of gamete donation between family members (except where the egg donor is the sister or cousin of the patient, or the sperm donor is the brother or cousin of the patient's partner or spouse)

Embryo Donation for Reproductive Purposes - Date of publication: November 2008.
Embryo donation is the donation by a couple, who have surplus embryos, of one or more of those embryos to an infertile couple or individual.

Advice issued to ECART

Advice issued 24 November 2008: to the Ethics Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technology Under the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004. (PDF, 28 KB) - Date of publication: November 2008
This advice has been provided to ECART to allow it to consider an application to use two assisted reproductive procedures (for example donation of egg from a family member with a surrogacy arrangement). An assisted reproductive procedure is a procedure that requires case by case approval by ECART before it can proceed.

The following guidelines have been reissued to ECART as advice:

Guidelines for Research on Gametes and Non-viable Embryos - Date of publication: July 2008
Completed in June 2005, these guidelines are based on the National Health and Medical Research Council document, Ethical Guidelines on the Use of Assisted Reproductive Technology in Clinical Practice and Research, 2004.

** Guidelines on Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis - Date of publication: March 2005.
PGD is a procedure used in conjunction with in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to test early human embryos for serious inherited genetic conditions and chromosomal abnormalities before they are transferred to a woman's uterus.

** Guidelines on the Use, Storage and Disposal of Sperm from a Deceased Man - Date of publication: February 2000
The Minister of Health has approved a set of guidelines on the use, storage and disposal of sperm from a deceased man taking into account a range of cultural, ethical and legal issues. These issues are outlined in the attached guidelines.

Footnotes

* Definition from the report of the Ministerial Committee on Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Assisted Human Reproduction: Navigating our Future , Wellington, 1994, paragraph 7.2.

** Please note: These guidelines were developed prior to the commencement of the HART Act. The guidelines should be read in conjunction with the HART Act 2004 and HART Order 2005. Parts of the guidelines may be superseded by the provisions of the HART Act and HART Order.

Page last updated: 20 August 2009