Power Simon: Human Assisted Reproductive Technology (Storage) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Power Simon: Human Assisted Reproductive Technology (Storage) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:659;Page:8335] 
Hon SIMON POWER (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology (Storage) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time it is my intention to refer the bill to the Health Committee. I did not realise when I became the Minister of Justice that I would be dealing with matters of human-assisted reproductive technology and the storage thereof but here we are. 
About one in five New Zealand couples have difficulty conceiving a child. Approximately one-third of couples who have difficulty conceiving undergo in vitro fertilisation or IVF treatment. In vitro fertilisation was first used in New Zealand in 1983 and now about 900 IVF babies are born each year. 
The Human Assisted Reproductive Technology Act 2004 provides for the regulation of procedures such as in vitro fertilisation and artificial insemination. The Act established an information-keeping regime to ensure that people born from donated embryos or cells can find out about their genetic origins. It also introduced protections against the commercialisation of surrogacy human gametes—that is human eggs and sperm—and embryos. This bill proposes amending two sections of the Act that relate to how long human gametes and embryos may be stored. Section 10 of the Act provides that gametes and embryos may be stored for only 10 years while allowing for extensions to this storage limit in particular cases. 
As with other comparable countries the Act recognises the desirability of placing a limit on the growing pool of stored gametes and embryos while at the same time acknowledging that in some cases there is often good reason to extend storage beyond the set limit; for example people who in their youth underwent medical treatment that affected their fertility and who had their gametes stored at that time may have good reason to want them stored for more than 10 years. 
The bill seeks to amend section 10 of the Act so that the 10-year limit on storage starts from when the Act came into force on 22 November 2004 or from when storage of a gamete or embryo began whichever is the later date. This would have the effect that the Act requires no stored gamete or embryo to be destroyed before 2014. It is commonly understood that this is the position under the current law. However the Government has received legal advice that indicates that as section 10 is currently written the 10-year limit starts from when a gamete or embryo was stored. This means that even if storage occurred before the Act commenced in 2004 the 10-year limit is to be calculated from the date of storage. 
As in vitro fertilisation treatment has been in use in New Zealand for the past two decades a sizable number of gametes or embryos in New Zealand has now been stored for more than 10 years. Fertility clinics acting in good faith may have therefore unknowingly breached the Act by storing gametes and embryos for longer than the applicable period. Unless section 10 is amended fertility clinics may be required to destroy such gametes and embryos with a devastating impact on the lives of those people who supplied them. 
In proposing this legislation the Government is providing comfort to those people who have made life decisions that are premised on their having access to their stored gametes or embryos. The exact number of persons who will benefit from this law change is not known but it is unlikely I am advised to be small. In addition the IVF procedure often results in surplus embryos which are often stored for subsequent cycles of IVF treatment—as it is successful in less than half of all cases—or donated to help other infertile couples. 
The bill also proposes amendments to clarify the roles of the two committees established under the Act in approving extensions to the 10-year storage limit. One role of the ethics committee is to consider and determine applications for extensions to the 10-year storage limit. The role of the advisory committee is to issue guidelines and advice for the ethics committee to use in deciding on such applications. The proposed amendments to sections 10 and 35 of the Act would remove any doubt about the functions of both the ethics committee and the advisory committee with regard to storage applications. 
The bill is necessary because to enforce section 10 as it stands would require fertility clinics or their clients to destroy all human gametes and embryos stored for more than 10 years. That would be unreasonable and unfair on fertility clinics and their clients. I commend this bill to the House.