HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 554344,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/554344/?format=api",
"text_counter": 281,
"type": "other",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Secondly, we have reached a point in Kenya where matters reproduction have to be discussed in the way we are doing. We need to come out and be more forthright. We have a situation in this country where, for instance, if you cannot get a child and need to be assisted, it becomes a problem and an issue of secrecy. You find people going all the way to South Africa to have in-vitro fertilization. The issue of surrogate motherhood is now beginning to be acceptable. However, all this is happening without regulation and legal statutes being put into place. If you look at the issues, especially of fertilization, whether it is internal or external, we are not the first county to deal with this. Even in developed countries; it creates and brings up quite a number of issues that have to be addressed. For example, can the gamete that is produced from somebody who is no more be given to somebody else? We are talking about a child who is going to be born, and essentially does not have a parent. If somebody’s embryos have been removed, for how long should they be frozen until they can actually be used? What happens in cases of mistaken identity? We have had cases where after the gamete has been produced, it is put into the wrong mother. We have also had cases where, for example, a black family ends up with a white child and that creates problems. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the issue of regulation becomes almost mandatory. I feel that especially in Kenya now, as we move into the issues of complexity that surround reproduction, we should extend our congratulations to Sen. Sijeny for this Bill that comes to address all these issues. We should have even moved with faster speed with this Bill, taking into consideration that some aspects of it have already been taken up by the National Assembly, dealing with matters like surrogacy, for instance, and yet Sen. Sijeny’s Bill puts everything together in one comprehensive package. We can look at all the provisions once and for all, create a way forward and give hope to the many couples out there who are trying to get a child and facing all these legal issues that do not have a framework. I am looking at this Bill as one that is essential for that legal framework. It is very extensive, because it gives a legal framework across each of the various assisted reproduction mechanisms that have been put into place. I think that it is extensive and has gone into the realm where we must go. It has gone to a place where we must go, given the challenges and rising technology and the options that the modern parent has now, compared to the one of days yonder. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, the Bill has started off by giving adequate definitions across the board. If you look at this realm and the issues that come up, it is usually about definition. What does one thing or the other mean? I remember that even as I read through this Bill, every time I thought of a concept, I thought of whether it has been handled, and when I checked, I got that it had been handled. Therefore, a lot had been put into it. For example, what does cytoplasmic transfer and embryo and sperm cryopreservation that is critical mean? There are also embryo transfers that have to be moved, for example, from one place to another; in-vitro fertilization which is actually The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}