In vitro fertilization hazardous in Canada. (News in Brief: Canada).

Ottawa--Throughout Canada federal government inspectors visiting sperm banks and In vitro fertilization clinics found federal regulations are being broken. Reports obtained by the National Post from Health Canada under the Freedom of Information Act, showed sloppiness in record keeping and improper screening of donated semen.

Only about 10 per cent of the sperm banks visited by federal safety inspectors had complied with the regulations. More than 50 sperm banks had been visited.

In Toronto, Prince George, Whitehorse, and other places, records tying the donated semen with patients to conceive were incomplete or nonexistent. In Calgary, Health Canada "uncovered a case in which the facility used semen from a donor who had not met blood testing requirements." In the fertility clinic inside the St. Luc Hospital in Montreal, its medical director had neither evaluated nor documented the safety of sperm lots before the sperm was distributed (Nat. Post, Dec. 13/02).

Comment:

It is clear that Canada is in the same situation as Great Britain (see under Great Britain, page 27). Catholics should be aware that the Church rejects IVF as immoral. See also Dr. Shea's article "The moral status of IVF," page 24.