At least 36 Australian couples and five women have been told their sperm, eggs and embryos from a controversial surrogacy clinic in Greece might not have been compromised.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the Aussies have been told their genetic material is being transported from the now-defunct Mediterranean Fertility Institute (MFI) to Chania General Hospital in Crete.
Brisbane-based family and fertility law specialist Stephen Page told the news outlet this was a good move by Greek authorities to ensure the genetic material was not lost forever.
“With the Mediterranean Fertility Institute going under, there was always the point that with the electricity and rent being unpaid, that the power would be switched off,” Mr Page said.
“That would have been a disaster – with the loss of all the genetic material.”
The MFI clinic was shut down by Greek police nearly two months ago amid claims of human trafficking and fraud.
Many Aussie couples were caught up in the scandal, struggling for updates on the clinic and their samples. In late August, two Australian families were given access to their babies born through surrogates after their DNA was a match.
Source: The Daily Telegraph.
