澳門醫學輔助生殖技術法的主要內容及立法啟示

Medical assisted reproductive technology is a special technology for treating couple infertility in the development of modern medicine. The Macao Special Administrative Region completed the legislation on medical-assisted reproductive technology in July 2023, and the relevant law came into effect on February 11, 2024. This is the first law in Macao to regulate comprehensively medical assisted reproductive technology. It explicitly prohibits “surrogacy”, “selecting the gender of the fetus”, “trading of gametes and embryos” and other activities, and criminalizes such activities. In facing the rapid development of medical science and technology, this law adopts the same legislative orientation as the national policy on therapeutic cloning technology, creating conditions for scientific research cooperation between the Macao SAR and mainland China in this area. There are three inspirations from this legislation: 1) Proper legislation can balance the interests of various stakeholders and the public interest of the Macao SAR and consequently solve social problems; 2) Timely introduction of law can effectively promote social development; 3) Forward-looking legislative view and flexible legislative technology can adapt to the rapid development of medical science and technology.