Catarina Silva
Yesterday at 11:43 pm–
The struggle of Ângela Ferreira – who dreams of becoming pregnant by her husband who lost almost a year ago and left the semen frozen – by changing the law of medically assisted procreation is thrilling the country and has already aroused political interest.
The PS, which has tried three times to approve the rule that allows sperm insemination after death, “will not fail to re-present the project”, assured JN Pedro Delgado Alves.
The deputy recalls that in 2012, 2015 and 2016, “bills on medically assisted procreation, which contained a norm for post-mortem insemination” were delivered by the socialists. In Article 22, it provided for “the insemination with semen of the deceased person to allow the realization of a parental project clearly established in writing” before death.
The projects were rejected. “It makes no sense. There is an enlightened will, the couple preserves the semen, but afterwards it cannot be used”, says the deputy.
From the Prime Minister’s office, to whom Angela also appealed, she received a letter stating that the matter is being analyzed by the Ministry of Health.
In the Citizens’ Legislative Initiative that she launched, Angela obtained the necessary signatures for the amendment to be voted on in Parliament. This week, Hospital São João (Porto), where Hugo was hospitalized, confirmed that the semen was not destroyed.
Angela, 32, met Hugo, 29, during his fight against cancer. Before starting chemotherapy, he had frozen the semen in order to be a father.
He married and died next
They started fertility treatment, but time ran out too soon. At the hospital, they still exchanged rings in March. “We decided we were not going to wait. The priest from our parish went there. We spent a month preparing everything.” The following day, Hugo passed away: “Marriage was the last dream we managed to achieve”. He left a book with the document that authorized her to continue the procreation treatment after her death.
The fight started there. “I went to the hospital and knew that I could not continue the process because he had passed away. It was a frustration. I can do fertilization with donated gametes, from any man, living or dead, but I cannot have a child by my husband.”
Embryo transfer after death was in the law
Since 2006, in the first version of the medically assisted procreation law, which provides for post-mortem insemination of embryos, “to allow the realization of a parental project clearly established in writing before death”. However, subsequent changes to the legislation prohibited the use of insemination with semen of the deceased and foresee destruction after death. The project presented by Angela says it is “of extreme cruelty and discrimination” to prevent a woman, who started treatment for her husband’s illness and has her consent, from fulfilling the couple’s dream.
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