Fertility clinics across the United Arab Emirates may be instructed to destroy frozen human embryos, following a vote by the Federal National Council to ban their storage.
The ruling was passed after religious authorities said the storage of human embryos contravened Islamic law.
The chief concern, said muftis from the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department and the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities in Dubai, was the risk of muddling family lineage through a mix-up.
The news could mean women with previously stored embryos must undergo fresh cycles of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment, posing a potential risk to their health, said Dr David Robertson, director of IVF at Tawam Hospital, Al Ain.
The clinic currently stores more than 9,000 embryos.
“If they actually say storage is illegal we will have to get rid of them. Patients will have to go through all the medication and the surgical procedures again so it is fairly traumatic from a medical point of view – plus there is the cost.”
The risk of ovarian hyperstimulation is increased with repeat cycles, he said, adding that Arab women are prone to this condition.
Doctors were unsure if the ban is to take immediate effect. A fertility doctor, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals from the Ministry of Health, admitted he had received no formal notification from health authorities but said he expected couples would ship existing embryos abroad for storage.
Commenting on the vote, he said: “They have been ill-advised. I cannot see how this procedure is un-Islamic.”
Dr Robertson suggested the ruling highlighted the need for a full debate on IVF laws.
“The whole thing is very imprecise…we need to see a precisely worded document.”
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