ON DECRYPT
This is the flagship measure of the bioethics law, debated on Tuesday in the National Assembly: MPs should vote for the access of the PMA (medically assisted procreation) to couples of women and single women. But behind this new provision, there are others that make controversy, such as access to the PMA for widowed women, what is called post-mortem PMA.
PMA possible via celibacy
Today, the law is categorical: a woman who loses her husband can not use his sperm or the embryo made with his gametes to have a child after his death. Clearly, the death of the man sign the end of the parental project. But the opening of the PMA to single women is a game changer.
" We are angry because a widowed woman (...) could not have access to her husband's gametes "A widow who has become single can still not use the gametes of her deceased husband, but she can make an LDC with the gift of another as a single woman. "We are angry because a widowed woman would have the opportunity for herself to solicit donated sperm from a donor but could not have access to her husband's gametes, or embryos designed as part of his own parental project, "says Rachel Lévy, head of the department of reproductive biology at Tenon Hospital in Paris. "It seems unacceptable or even unfair."
A compromise to find?
But the games are not made and the discussion in the National Assembly could lead to a compromise: a widow would have the right to use the gametes of her deceased spouse six months after his death, the time of mourning and reflection, and up to 18 months later, not to keep the gametes of a dead person forever.