Eggs cost 10 times more to freeze than embryos

Medical experts who spoke to MaltaToday confirmed that the expenses involved in using this technology are significantly higher than with the freezing of fertilized embryos. One doctor estimates that oocyte vitrification may cost up to 10 times as much - with serious implications for the public health service, already creaking under the strain of an ever-increasing health bill.

This is of direct relevance to the ongoing parliamentary discussions on assisted reproduction techniques, as both Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Health Minister Joe Cassar have pronounced themselves in favour of the more expensive technology on ‘ethical’ grounds.

Assisted fertility treatment has been on offer in Malta for over 20 years, but there is no legislative framework regulating the sector locally. The major stumbling block has so far proved to be the freezing and storage of fertilised human embryos.

Proscribed by the Church, the controversial practice also has its opponents in the medical sector: with a recently formed lobby group, Professionals Against Embryo Freezing, pushing for a total ban. Government MPs are understood to be divided on the issue: Jean-Pierre Farrugia, a medical doctor who piloted the bill through the Bio-Ethics Committee stage, defends embryo freezing so long as excess embryos are not discarded (as is commonplace elsewhere).

But Edwin Vassallo, chair of the Social Affairs Committee which discussed the issue this week, passed the bill back to parliament without making any direct recommendation one way or the other.

In a recent interview on Radio 101, Dr Gonzi argued that the delay in regulating this sector has allowed for medical advances that render Catholic objections redundant.

“Thank God we waited because we discovered technological advances that will help us overcome difficulties of conscience over this matter... thanks to scientific developments, these difficulties can be addressed or reduced,” Dr Gonzi told his interviewer on Radio 101.

Cassar has also giving his blessing to the technology, as it obviates all the morally contentious aspects of the therapy.

“Why enter into a dilemma whether you should or should not freeze embryos when there is a system which provides for the same result, without having to freeze the embryos?” he asked last Sunday.

Doctors could easily answer the question by pointing towards the exorbitant costs involved in the technology. However, whether the taxpayer will be willing to make good for the price difference is another question entirely.