WMA Resolution on the Non-Commercialisation of Human Reproductive Material

Adopted by the 54th WMA General Assembly, Helsinki, Finland, September 2003

CONSIDERING

  1. That the principle that the "human body and its parts shall not, as such, give rise to financial gain" is laid down in numerous international declarations and recommendations;
  2. That the 1987 WMA Statement on In-Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transplantation expressly condemns any commercialisation by which ova, sperm, or embryos are offered for purchase or sale, and the 2000 WMA Statement on Human Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation calls for the prohibition of the sale of organs and tissues for transplantation;
  3. That, nevertheless, human ova, sperm, or embryos are offered for sale on the Internet and elsewhere;
  4. That until now national governments have not been successful in banning such commercial transactions;
  5. That monetary compensation to source individuals for economic losses associated with the retrieval of reproductive materials can be distinguished from payment for the purchase of reproductive materials;

THE WMA CALLS ON:

  1. NMAs to urge their governments to enact legislation prohibiting commercial transactions in human ova, sperm and embryos; and
  2. Physicians involved in the procurement and use of human ova, sperm, and embryos to ascertain that these materials have not been purchased from the source individuals. Hereby they can contribute, in a practical way, to the upholding of the ethical principle of "non-commercialisation of human reproductive tissue".