Embryo Donation, Embryo Adoption and Parental Responsibility

Published: 22 March 2016

The transfer of so-called surplus embryos for the carrying to term and the permanent assumption of parental responsibility by a third party has been practiced in Germany at least since 2013. This raises fundamental questions about the life chances and development opportunities of children, about parental responsibility and family relationships. In its Opinion, the German Ethics Council considers it ethically required to define by law the framework conditions for embryo donation/embryo adoption and gives a number of recommendations.