Medical doctor's proceedings in performing artificial insemination of a married woman

Despite of the lack of legal regulation of artificial inséminât ion of married woman in Poland, these procedures are undoubtedly performed in our country. Therefore there is a necessity of defining basic duties of a doctor which have to be followed in performing the intervention's on account of (benefit of a child to be conceived in course of that intervention. The following article dwells on those problems. The intervention of artificial insemination of a married woman can be performed only when other methods of treating the spouses' sterility proved to be futile. It is in the basic obligations of medical doctor performing the artificial insemination to explain exhaustively both the target of the intervention and its legal consequences to the spouses. The said obligation becomes essential in case of a heterologous inseminâtion as a husband of a child's imother would be a subject to all obligations resulting from the paternity relationship in spite of the fact that he is not to be a biological father but he expressed his consent to the intervention The further duty of the doctor is to receive a consent of both spouses for ine insemination. The authoress postulates to have the consent in the written form. Abiding of that form can guarantee that the decision in question was made upon due consideration. Recalling of the consent at any time by the spouses is a particular feature of their act. Until the moment of intervention the spouses ought to be vested with competence of changing their decision. A choice of the sperm donor in case of heterologous insemination belongs to the medical doctor performing the intervention. No sperm of a man suffering of a hereditary disease which can appear in a future child can be used for the insemination. The fact -of performing insemination has to be considered as a medical secret. The secret has also to cover the donor. For it is in the interest of all parties engaged to abide the rule of full anonymity of the sperm donor.Digitalizacja i deponowanie archiwalnych zeszytów RPEiS sfinansowane przez MNiSW w ramach realizacji umowy nr 541/P-DUN/201