French Public Health Code
In forceMedically assisted procreation refers to clinical and biological practices enabling in vitro conception, the preservation of gametes, germinal tissue and embryos, embryo transfer and artificial insemination. The list of biological procedures used in medically assisted procreation is set by decree of the Minister of Health after consultation with the Biomedicine Agency. A Conseil d'Etat decree specifies the procedures and criteria for including procedures on this list. The criteria relate in particular to compliance with the fundamental principles of bioethics set out in particular in articles 16 to 16-8 of the French Civil Code, the effectiveness and reproducibility of the procedure and the safety of its use for the woman and the unborn child.
Any technique designed to improve the efficacy, reproducibility and safety of the procedures on the list mentioned in the first paragraph of this article is subject, prior to its implementation, to an authorisation issued by the Director General of the Agence de la biomédecine following a reasoned opinion from its Orientation Council.
Where the policy council considers that the proposed modification is likely to constitute a new procedure, its implementation is subject to its inclusion on the list referred to in the same first paragraph.
The implementation of medically assisted procreation gives priority to practices and procedures that make it possible to limit the number of embryos kept. The Agence de la biomédecine will report on the methods used and the results obtained in its annual report.
Ovarian stimulation, including when it is carried out independently of a medically assisted procreation technique, is subject to rules of good practice laid down by order of the Minister for Health.
An order of the Minister for Health, issued on a proposal from the Agence de la biomédecine, defines the rules of good practice applicable to medically assisted procreation.
