Sir, - Senator Mary Henry (June 3rd) is correct. The need for a specific regulatory authority to govern and guide practitioners in reproductive medicine is long overdue. Many medical advances have occurred to assist infertile couples and while the vast majority of new developments are designed simply to enable patients to achieve their goal of a child, not all of them are acceptable.
An embryo is the template of human life, and therefore should not be destroyed. That is why the J. Marion Sims Clinic proposes to donate embryos to other childless couples. The legal and ethical issues surrounding assisted human reproductive medicine are wide-ranging and complex. Those of us working in this field, while guided by the Medical Council, are in limbo when it comes to the many legal and ethical issues facing us in our daily work.
I have consistently championed the need for legislation to guide those of us helping couples with fertility problems (The Irish Times, January 30th, 1999). The J. Marion Sims Clinic fully supports Senator Henry in her efforts to establish a register of all those involved in assisted human reproduction. Each year 26,000 couples in Ireland will have difficulty conceiving a child. For these couple and for those of us working in this area, the Government must address this issue without delay. - Yours, etc.,
Dr Tony Walsh, MD, MRCOG, MRCPI, Consultant Gynaecologist, The J. Marion Sims Clinic, Rathgar, Dublin 6.