Thousands of Italians are being forced to travel abroad for assisted reproduction or preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) treatment, because of Italy's highly restrictive legislation. The results of a new survey carried out by the Reproductive Tourism Observatory show that the number of couples travelling to other countries for such procedures has increased four-fold since the law was passed three years ago. The ban on PGD - testing embryos to identify those free from serious genetic disorders - was challenged unsuccessfully in a court case held earlier this year.
Italy's new law, said to be the most restrictive in Europe, was passed in December 2003 to counter the country's reputation for being the 'Wild West' of fertility treatments. The law restricts the provision of fertility treatments to 'stable heterosexual couples' who live together and are of childbearing age, and who are shown to be clinically infertile. Research using human embryos is prohibited, as is embryo freezing, gamete donation, surrogacy, and the provision of any fertility treatments for single women or same-sex couples. The law also says that no more than three eggs can be fertilised at any one time, and that any eggs fertilised must all be transferred to the uterus simultaneously. Italians are also banned from using PGD for any purpose.