Thailand Medical Council Regulations on Surrogacy and IVF

The Medical Council of Thailand’s Notification

No. 1/2540

On Service Standards for Assisted Reproductive Technologies

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To ensure that services for Assisted Reproductive Technologies by medical practitioners meet standards and to protect the recipients of such services in compliance provided with the nation’s economic and social conditions, by the virtue of Section 21 (1) of the Medical Practice Act of 2525 (1982), the Board of Directors of the Medical Council of Thailand resolved in their 10/2540 meeting on October 9, 1997 to promulgate the standards regarding services for Assisted Reproductive Technologies as follows:

Section 1. Services for Assisted Reproductive Technologies refer to any activity that assists reproduction other than the natural process by taking the female and male gametes from the service recipients and,

(1) Transferring them into the uterus and/or uterine tube (intrauterine insemination, gamete intrafallopian transfer), or

(2) In vitro fertilization through different methods or embryo transfer.

Section 2. Medical facility operators, or medical practitioners responsible for similar functions in a state-owned or private organization providing services for Assisted Reproductive Technologies, shall be responsible or shall find medical practitioners to be responsible for the services.

Section 3. People responsible for the services for Assisted Reproductive Technologies in Section 2 in any organization shall obtain a certificate from the Royal Thai College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

Medical practitioners responsible for the services for Assisted Reproductive Technologies in any organization, who provide such services before this Notification goes into effect, shall apply for a certificate from the Royal Thai College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists 180 days from the date this Notification goes into effect.

If there is a change of the persons responsible pursuant to the first or second paragraph, such persons shall apply for a certificate from the Royal Thai College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists within 60 days from the date of the change.

Section 4. Medical practitioners, responsible for the services in Section 3, for providing services for Assisted Reproductive Technologies, shall maintain the service standards in compliance with the standards set forth and specified in the attachment to this Notification.

Section 5. The Royal Thai College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists shall serve as the regulatory body to ensure that the services meet the intent of this Notification and report its operating results to the Medical Council of Thailand annually.

Section 6. This Notification shall go into effect on the date following the date of publication in the Royal Gazettes.

Announced October 22, 1997

Dr. Arun Phaosawat, M.D.

President, Medical Council of Thailand

Note: Published in the Royal Gazettes in the General Announcement, Vol 114, Special

Section 123D, dated December 26, 1997

The Medical Council of Thailand’s Notification

No. 21/2544

On Service Standards for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (No. 2)

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Following the Medical Council of Thailand’s promulgation of its Notification No. 1/2540, dated October 22, 1997, specifying the service standards for Assisted Reproductive Technologies by medical practitioners, it’s now appropriate to specify additional service standards to better protect the service recipients. By the virtue of Section 21 (1) of the Medical Practice Act of 2525 (1982), which includes provisions restricting certain personal rights and freedoms, but Section 29 as well as Section 50 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand which allows said legal provisions, the Medical Council of Thailand’s Board of Directors resolved in their 10/2544 meeting on October 11, 2001 to promulgate the following:

Section 1. The following statements shall be added as 4.1 and 4.2 to the Medical Council of Thailand’s Notification No. 1/2540, dated October 22, 1997 on the Service Standards for Assisted Reproductive Technologies:

4.1 The services for Assisted Reproductive Technologies shall not include human cloning.

4.2 Medical practitioners, responsible for the services in Section 3 of the Medical Council of Thailand’s Notification No. 1/2540, or for providing the services for Assisted Reproductive Technologies shall maintain the service standards concerning donation of female or male gametes or embryos used in the reproduction process as follows:

(1) If a couple seeks for the wife to be impregnated for the intended birth of child, the medical practitioner may provide the services by

(A) Using the donor’s gametes in the fertilization process in or outside the body,

(B) Receiving an embryo for pregnancy.

(2) If a couple seeks to have a child through the impregnation of another woman who is not the wife, the medical practitioner may provide the service only if the embryo used in the impregnation is from that couple’s gametes.

(3) For the services in (1) or (2) to be provided the following conditions must be met:

(A) No compensation may be made to the gamete donor in a manner that may be understood as a trade,

(B) No compensation may be made to the woman who gets pregnant instead of the couple in a manner that may be understood as hiring one to get pregnant,

(C) The woman who gets pregnant for the couple shall be a relative by blood of either party of the couple.

(D) Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis may be conducted for certain disease determination as deemed necessary and appropriate, and it must not be done for purposes of gender selection. A letter of consent as attached to this Notification shall be displayed.

(4) To provide services apart from the standards specified in (1), (2) and (3), medical practitioners responsible for providing the services shall obtain approval from the Royal Thai College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists before providing any of those services.

Section 2. This Notification shall go into effect on the date following the date of publication in the Royal Gazettes.

Announced June 20, 2002

Dr. Somsak Lolekha, M.D.

President, Medical Council of Thailand

Note: Published in the Royal Gazettes in the General Announcement, Vol 119, Section 68, dated August 22, 2002