It may be possible for Irish couples to "adopt" embryos belonging to other couples, under proposals from a private fertility clinic in Dublin.
The J. Marian Simms Clinic in Rathgar offers embryo-freezing as part of its in vitro fertilisation programme. This is also part of the IVF programme in the Rotunda Hospital.
Embryo-freezing means that when a woman undergoes fertility treatment to stimulate her ovaries, and a number of eggs are removed from her body and then fertilised, they do not all have to be implanted in her womb at once. They may be frozen and saved for later implantation if the earlier attempts fail, or if the couple is successful and wants more children. Fertilised eggs are normally kept for five years.
However, there may be instances when the couple decide not to use all the embryos, or where this is impossible due to the death of one of them or the breakup of their relationship. Last year the Master of the Rotunda hospital, Dr Peter McKenna, told The Irish Times that in such circumstances the embryos would be destroyed.
However, Dr Tony Walsh, of the J. Marian Simms Clinic, said yesterday it hoped to offer an alternative to destroying the frozen embryos. The clinic was examining the possibility of offering them to other couples.
"It's forward planning, really," he said. "Spare embryos will not become spare until couples decide they don't want to use them. We may never have spare embryos."
The Irish Medical Council, which regulates the ethics of the medical profession, has no guidelines on the use of frozen embryos at the moment, he said.
However, by the time the hypothetical possibility of adopting an embryo arises in five years, there may well be legislation on the matter. Senator Mary Henry has already prepared a Private Member's Bill on the regulation of fertility clinics.