It is unclear whether the procedure recently permitted in Britain would be legal here. Ireland differs from the UK in that there is no regulation of reproductive technology. So the question of whether embryos can be selected for implantation on the basis of the usefulness of their organs or tissues to another sibling is not even on the agenda. Carol Coulter reports.
So far, only the constitutional amendment on the right to life of the unborn, and the Code of Ethics of the Medical Council, govern issues relating to reproductive technology. This whole area is currently being considered by the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction, which is due to report shortly.
The "unborn" is not defined in the Constitution or in law, so the precise legal status of the embryo has not been established. The ethics code of the Medical Council would prohibit selecting an embryo for implantation on the basis of its potential usefulness to another. It rules out the destruction of embryos on the basis of this potential usefulness.
However, much of the work relating to embryos is not carried out by medical doctors, but by scientists called embryologists, who do not fall under the Council's regulation. It may be possible, therefore, for a couple to create an embryo, or several embryos, that could assist in solving the medical problems of another child, having such an embryo selected by an embryologist in Ireland, and then taking it abroad for implantation. However, this possibility may change when the time comes to legislate on the basis of the recommendations coming in the report of the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction.