The Department of Health (DOH) is drafting a regulation that would allow grown-up test-tube babies to know if they are biologically related to the person they are about to marry.
Test-tube babies conceived from egg or sperm donors do not know the identity of one of their biological parents. If the draft to a provision deriving from the Assisted Human Reproduction Act (
Those records could then be submitted to the Bureau of Health Promotion (BHP), which would double-check the list against the name of the egg or sperm donor.
In order to protect the identity of egg and sperm donors, couples would receive no information beyond whether or not they were related.
Although in theory the provision would solve the potential problem of close relatives marrying because of the unknown maternity or paternity of some test-tube babies, it could be that many won't even know they have that option.
"There is no law compelling parents to inform their children that they used an egg or sperm donor," said Wu Shiow-ing (吳秀英), deputy director general of the BHP, yesterday. "Many decide not to tell their children."
The check for relatedness is voluntary.
"It is up to the individual couple whether they want to take the chance," she said.
There are three others provisions in the draft which deals with different aspects of the Assisted Human Reproduction Act. They relate to the compensation of egg and sperm donors, the establishment of sperm banks and the qualification criteria for fertility centers.
According to a DOH official, the draft will be forwarded to the Executive Yuan for final approval.
Should the Executive Yuan approve it, the provisions are predicted to go into effect at the end of next month, Wu said.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man