Any treatment performed by medical personnel on a pregnant surrogate based on professional obligations does not constitute a crime, but can be punished if the medical personnel is a party to the surrogacy agreement, lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo, who heads the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) 2nd Standing Committee, told reporters yesterday.
Chan made the remarks after chairing a closed-door meeting of the committee, which is reviewing article-by-article a government-initiated bill regulating assisted reproductive technology (ART) services, aiming to allow childless couples to use ART services, but always subject to a string of strict rules.
The bill proposes to prohibit surrogacy, whereby a woman agrees to carry a child for another person who will become the child’s parent after the birth while the woman who gave birth to the child relinquishes her rights and obligations as a mother. In the bill, a woman is by default the mother of the children that she gives birth to.
According to Chan, the previous version of the bill proposed that those who enter into a surrogacy agreement face imprisonment of up to two years or a fine. However, the latest version of the bill proposes that this article would only take effect if the surrogacy agreement is signed in the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR).
Chan added that collecting and using gametes from anyone without consent would be crime, according to the bill, and even if the person agreed on the collection of his or her gametes, a second agreement must be obtained before using the gametes. Violators will face a penalty of one to eight years in prison, Chan added.
Chan said the bill will come into force 180 days after its promulgation in the Official Gazette (BO), but the requirements for the disposal of biological substances will come into force the day after its promulgation, while the relevant technical guidelines will be gazetted on the same day of the bill’s promulgation.
After the committee concludes its revision, the bill will be resubmitted to a plenary session of the legislature for its second reading and final vote. Chan yesterday did not mention when he expected both to take place in the legislature’s hemicycle.
Lawmaker-cum-restaurateur Andrew Chan Chak Mo (right), who chairs the legislature’s 2nd Standing Committee, poses yesterday after the committee’s closed-door meeting which is reviewing the government’s ART services bill, while the committee’s secretary, Lam Lon Wai, looks on. – Photo: Ginnie Liang
