Since May 28 of this year, a modification in the regulations of the Law on assisted reproduction prevents many men from having offspring, only the Valladolid Clinical Hospital, a reference center in Castilla-León for artificial fertilization treatments, has 36 frozen samples that cannot be used because it would be an illegal technique.
The previous regulations allowed the obtaining of sperm from frozen testicular tissues and ejaculate for the application of 'in vitro' fertilization and the ICSI technique (intracytoplasmic sperm microinjection), and did not mention the specific methods for obtaining semen, but in the The regulations specify the permitted techniques: Artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and intracytoplasmic injection of sperm from ejaculate, with own or donor gametes and with transfer of pre-embryos, intratubal transfer of gametes. The TESE technique was the only hope of forming a family for many couples, as there are men who do not have sperm in the ejaculate, so they can only be extracted from the testicular tissue, and then inject the male gamete into the female oocyte. Now, the only thing left for these couples is for the man to give up being a biological father and opt for a donor's semen, or wait and fight, because according to Dr. Eloy Díez Gregorio, head of the Assisted Reproduction Unit of the Clinic , you cannot reverse in fertilization and you will have to solve this problem favorably.
In case of not complying with the regulations, it is penalized with up to one million euros and the closing of the unit that practices it, but some communities consider the possibility of omitting the sanctions to be able to continue with the practice, since the autonomies are responsible for impose infringements, but failure to comply with a national law could put assisted reproduction units in a very complicated situation.
