HIV+ Intended Parents
Upon very recently the policy of charity organisation that were supporting surrogacy in UK were excluding HIV+ intended parents. This situation has changed recently. However, it is obvious that it requires that the sperm or eggs have to be HIV+ free. This process is very expensive and not very accessible due to lack of clinics that can provide this service.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, more than 70 million people have been infected with the HIV virus and about 35 million people have died of HIV. Globally, 36.7 million [30.8–42.9 million] people were living with HIV at the end of 2016. An estimated 0.8% [0.7-0.9%] of adults aged 15–49 years worldwide are living with HIV, although the burden of the epidemic continues to vary considerably between countries and regions. Sub-Saharan Africa remains most severely affected.
According recent studies, 19.5 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy in 2016, and it is now believed that people on the latest HIV drugs now have near-normal life expectancy because of improvements in treatments.
The new advances in treatments and life expectancy gave people better hope to carry on their lives and establish their own families. However for most of these people they require assistance in reproductive techniques, such as IVF, Sperm Wash and also in some cases, surrogacy.
Genetic Diseases
It is estimated that about 20% of reproductive problems are genetic or chromosomal type. That is why today genetic testing is an essential part of the fertility study in couples that need medical reproductive techniques to become parents.
Pre-implementation genetic diagnosis (PGD) refers to the process of screening embryos for the possibility of genetic disorders. Ultimately, any embryos found to have genetic abnormalities are removed and discarded prior to the transfer process. This type of technology requires the couple to make moral decisions related to the difference between a pregnancy termination and the discard of non-transferred embryos.
PGD is reportedly allowed in majority of the countries that offer IVF. The only two countries that strictly prohibit the process are the Philippines and Switzerland. Where it is allowed, it is restricted to a small number of hereditary disorders. In the United States it is considered experimental. The legislation covers things like when it is performed, how, and who performs it. There are regional organizations popping up to cover these types of regulations. The demand for this procedure is expected to continue to increase. It is generally considered safe and has a low frequency of errors.