Health ministry to address surrogacy issue in separate amendments

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) will separate the issue of surrogacy from its proposed package of draft amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act, it said Monday.

The MOHW's draft amendments were first announced on May 14, with the ministry aiming to broaden access to artificial insemination for single women, same-sex couples, and surrogate mothers.

Those amendments were to be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review this month, but the ministry changed its position after the proposed "surrogate mother system" included in the draft amendments prompted opposition from women's groups and lawmakers.

Surrogacy is currently illegal in Taiwan, although concerns about Taiwan's falling fertility rate and declining population have shifted public opinion toward allowing couples to use surrogate mothers.

At a press conference Monday morning, eight Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers called for the issue of surrogacy to be addressed separately from the Assisted Reproduction Act.

"There is much uncertainty in society as to whether to open up [assisted reproduction rights] to surrogate mothers," DPP lawmaker Huang Shiou-fang (黃秀芳) said, "so discussion should continue and separate laws should be established to mitigate concerns."

On Monday afternoon, the MOHW announced it would first deal with the draft amendments that have achieved a consensus -- including broadening eligibility for assisted reproduction to lesbians and single women -- while addressing the more contentious issue of surrogacy separately.

"Civil society groups and the public have continued to express their opposition to surrogacy," said Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍), head of the MOHW's Health Promotion Administration.

A survey found that "around 80 percent" of more-than-600 comments received by the ministry concerning potential changes to the law expressed opposition to surrogacy, Wu said.

"It is difficult to weigh the rights and interests of various stakeholders involved in the surrogacy process," the health official said, referring to surrogate children, surrogate mothers and those seeking surrogate births.

Given the change in direction on surrogacy, the MOHW will revise its package of amendments and submit it for approval to the Executive Yuan by the end of the year before sending it to the Legislature for review.

Before then, the Legislature's Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee is scheduled to review 16 amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act on Thursday that have been proposed by various political parties.