Greater risk disclosure urged amid review of assisted reproduction law

Taipei, Jan. 14 (CNA) Parents groups on Wednesday urged that the debate over a proposed amendment to the Assisted Reproduction Act consider the need for greater disclosure to patients of potential health risks associated with assisted reproduction.

"Before any amendments are made, stakeholders should disclose impact assessment reports and clarify whether any related risks have been overlooked," said Wang Han-yang (王瀚陽), chairman of the Action Alliance on Basic Education, during a press conference in Taipei.

Wang said the three parents groups at the press event were not against the amendment -- which would grant single women and married lesbian couples access to assisted reproductive technology (ART).

He warned, however, that ART-related health risks have not been fully addressed in public hearings or legislative deliberations related to the proposed amendment.

Article 12 of the Assisted Reproduction Act currently stipulates that a medical institution must explain "any possible complications or hazards" of assisted reproduction to the recipient couple, without clearly spelling out what information must be disclosed.

Wang told CNA that the "possible complications or hazards" cited in Article 12 mainly focus on risks to the woman during pregnancy rather than the potential health risks for the child.

Those child-related risks, including preterm and underweight births, should be clearly included in the informed consent form signed by both parties, and medical institutions should be required to ensure that applicants fully understand the information, Wang said.

He called for those specific disclosure requirements to be written into the law.

To push for such changes, Wang said parent groups reached out to lawmakers and the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Wednesday and planned to hold meetings in the near future to press their case.

Risks to the child

Among the risks, Wang said, was that babies conceived through ART had a prematurity rate (defined as delivery before 37 weeks of pregnancy) of 26.4 percent, according to 2023 data from the Health Promotion Administration.

The 26.4 percent rate was about 2.4 times the national average, Wang said.

Also, the low birth weight rate, defined as weighing less than 2,500 grams at birth, was 25.7 percent among ART births, about 2.3 times the average, Wang said.

In a prerecorded video, neonatologist Cheng Yi (鄭弋) said preterm infants conceived through assisted reproduction tended to have poorer lung function because their lungs were not fully developed, and that the gap with full-term infants could persist into adulthood.

Low birth weight babies are 2.5 times more likely to develop diabetes later in life than those born at a normal weight, Cheng said, adding: "We can help them survive and grow up, but the problem is their health may still not be good."

Wang said preterm birth and low birth weight are also "major risk factors" for developmental delays, and that children with these issues often need long-term medical rehabilitation and special education support.

He warned that if the proposed amendment led to a surge in newborns at high risk for health complications, the already strained National Health Insurance (NHI) system and special education services could be pushed to the brink.

Medical practitioners "should disclose the risks honestly," Wang said, noting that if none of the risks are mentioned and a child is born with health complications, "parents are the ones who have to shoulder the hard work of raising that child."