The guardianship of human embryos: the argentine experience (the history of a failure)

Abstract

This present article carries out an analysis of artificial insemination in vitro in the Argentine society, under the legal, commercial and social aspects. It has been attempted to demonstrate that fertility in vitro is a reproductive method, whose costs does not allow access to the less favored classes in Argentina and that the whole process is under the control of private clinics and private companies of great economical power that are the effective guardians of surplus human embryos. Argentina was the country, where in the first case in the history of law, the courts decided to put all embryos, without exceptions, under their jurisdiction, nominating this author to be the legal guardian. However, despite this author’s goodwill and without any public resources allocated, as it was effectively tried to regulate the control of human embryos in the city of Buenos Aires, he suffered such violent opposition from the clinics and companies involved in in vitro fertilization that he opted for declining his public commission in fear of having to account for the exercise of this activity to one of the State’s power.