Ovum bank unlikely yet
3/6/2004 16:54
It is unlikely an ovum bank will be set up in Shanghai at the present time
because of both the lack of national regulations in this area and the
inefficiency of the existing artificial reproductive technology (ART), Cheng
Linan, a local medical expert, said yesterday while denying a recent media
report.
Chen, president of Shanghai International Peace Mother and Children
Hospital, was attending an ART symposium in the city.
Other experts in ART at
the symposium from Beijing, Guangzhou and Nanjing, echoed Chen's opinion,
pointing out that it is not the right time to set up ovum banks in
China.
Even if there are successful cases, the technology cannot be widely
applied yet, they added.
"ART service is not simply a medical problem, but
also an ethical one," Cheng said, noting "the lack of national rules leave many
important problems unsolved such as who are qualified to donate ova and the
standards of the medical institutions qualified to provide the
service".
Meanwhile, the existing ART service is immature, because it still
remains a mystery in many areas-such as under what temperatures ova can be
preserved for a longer period, Cheng noted.
Research indicates ova can be
preserved for 24 hours under normal temperatures, compared to three to seven
days for sperm.
Only 5-10 percent of ova can be resuscitated after
frozen.
About 8-10 percent of local couples in Shanghai are infertile,
today's Shanghai Morning Post said. Most of them turn to medicine, surgery or
test-tube baby technology to conceive.
Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
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