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{
    "id": 1071309,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1071309/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 253,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Suba North, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Odhiambo-Mabona",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 376,
        "legal_name": "Millie Grace Akoth Odhiambo Mabona",
        "slug": "millie-odhiambo-mabona"
    },
    "content": "gynaecologists who were in this House in the last Parliament, told me that this Bill is very vital. I have since become very educated on medical terms. They told me “when you talk of IVF, it is only one form of assisted reproduction. There are different forms of assisted reproduction. Hence, we should be looking at a wider level.” That is why we no longer refer to this as the IVF Bill but as Assisted Reproduction Technology Bill. We have since had a discussion with them. I will be proposing further amendments based on further research and practices that we have seen in other countries. I encourage Members that we support this Bill so that not only should we then abide by the court order but we also help those who need our assistance. To briefly take Members through what the Bill is about, Part I is the preliminaries which, of course, has the Short Title and Commencement date, Interpretation and Application sections. Part II establishes the Assisted Reproductive Technology Authority that will be a body that regulates assisted reproduction. Right now because there is no law, the things that the church fears can actually happen because there is no legal framework. We can actually have people mixing human gametes with those of animals. It is, for me, an ethical issue. So, the proposed authority will be setting up regulations on what can be done and what cannot be done. It will also be a licensing body that will be enabling people who practise this assisted reproduction. Currently, we do not have any regulation. So, we have people doing anything, even people who are not experts. A lot of desperate couples are exploited in the process. Part III highlights prohibited activities, including when and how long you can keep an embryo. It is suggested that if you can keep it for 10 years you need consent of parties, so that you do not have somebody using your eggs or your sperms without your permission. I can decide, seeing Mr. Speaker sitting there, he is handsome, brilliant, he can manage the House well and I somehow go and find his sperms and create a baby. This law seeks to protect that so that nobody uses your sperms without your permission except by law. It also talks about posthumous consent, whether or not that should be allowed and if it is to be allowed, under what circumstances. I know this is a moot issue because I have been talking to a lot of people on the issue of assisted reproductive technology for procreation purposes. I have actually provided that it should be for procreation purposes only. I know the scientists and the doctors that I spoke to had told me to open it up because of the issues of technology and research. If we limit it, it means we cannot do research. For instance, when we have COVID-19, perhaps, some of those researches that we may do may help us. It also talks of circumstances for undertaking assisted reproductive technology where it is precluded, when it is allowed – like prohibiting taking of gametes from a minor except if they are sick. Part IV also talks about the rights of parents, donors and children. What it seeks to do is to confer legal rights on the child. Perhaps, I want to say that what this Bill seeks is to entrench what we call “gestational surrogacy” as opposed to genetic or traditional surrogacy. What that means is that there are times when there is a woman who cannot carry a child on their own but will use somebody else to carry a child for her. What this Bill seeks is to ensure that the person who carries the child should not be the bearer of the eggs because it tends to create legal issues. If I have my eggs and I am the one who is carrying the child, it means, when I give birth to the child I will insist that it is my child because I am the biological. So, what we are seeking is gestational surrogacy so that the mother who is carrying a child for the intended parents has no The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}