What Is an Informed Consent? An Informed Consent is provided by your medical provider and/or IVF clinic.
It is necessary for treatment to commence.
An informed consent is meant to protect the clinic.
It is also meant to ensure that you understand what the procedure entails, including potential risks involved.
This document is intended to determine the disposition of your frozen embryos in the event of death, divorce, separation or other unforeseeable circumstances.
When Should the Consent Be Signed? Make certain you request to see and sign the informed consent at the time of hiring your physician and or fertility clinic.
Review the form to ensure the clinic's protocol matches your own position on the disposition of your embryos.
I recommend hiring an attorney to review the consent with you before signing it.
Also, be sure to have a conversation with your spouse/partner, if applicable, about this consent form, including embryo disposition in the event of unforeseen circumstances.
By all means do not sign at the time of the procedure or while under sedation as your judgment may be impaired.
Medical Procedure & Risks Know what the procedures entail, know what risks are involved and know what the risks of each procedure are, to include PGD (Pre-Implanted Genetic Diagnosis), the number of embryos transferred and the medication to be used.
You must also understand what your rights and responsibilities are under these consents.
Does the Consent Apply to You? Does the consent apply to your personal situation? Do you feel it adequately addresses your needs and concerns in this particular situation? This can be problematic since it creates a "Written Agreement" where others may not exist.
Here is an example - lesbian couple - one woman using her eggs and the other woman carrying their baby.
The fertility clinic has one sign an egg donation consent and the other woman sign a gestational surrogate/carrier consent form since they did not have one that was appropriate for their situation.
This can create issues regarding parental rights, etc.
as it did in a landmark case in California involving a lesbian couple and their parental rights (the case of K.
M.
v.
E.
G).
Disposition of Embryos If you are single, think all likely and unlikely possible situations through before signing.
If you are married or have a partner, ensure that you have a conversation about all potential situations that may arise in the future.
Make certain each of you sign the agreement without duress or concerns.
Do not forge the signature of partner.
I cannot stress the importance for each of you to "READ THE FORMCAREFULLY ".
If you are thinking of donation, will they go to Science or Research - what does the clinic have in mind? If you want to donate to another couple or to the clinic - what are the parameters of such donation? If a donor is involved, has the sperm donor or egg donor agreed to such disposition? If you are thinking of destroying the embryos - what does this mean and how does the clinic/physician intend to handle this? Although it may be difficult to talk about what are your plans in the event of a divorce or separation? What does each of you want? Is there an agreement? What to do if there is no agreement? It is also important to understand the repercussions of these decisions.
Finally, what happens in the event of a death? How do you want your estate to handle these embryos? Do you want your estate/family to have the ability to create a child after your death with your genetic material? Conclusion Read the consent form carefully! Understand the consent form and or agreement fully before signing.
Think before you sign! Have an attorney review it before you sign and never sign during the procedure ensure that you review it well before the day of the procedure.