New Draft Bill on Access to Reproductive Assistance Technology

The provisions of the first paragraph of Article 12 of the Law on "Human Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights" regarding age restrictions for accessing human reproductive assistance technologies have been deemed inconsistent with Article 31, paragraph 1 of the Constitution and thus invalid.

In response, a draft bill has been developed aimed at removing the previously established age restrictions for accessing reproductive assistance technologies for both women and men. This was presented during today’s session of the National Assembly by Deputy Minister of Health Armen Gasparyan.

Member of the 'Armenia' faction, Armenuhy Kyureghyan, inquired about the number of cases where individuals previously sought assistance but were denied due to age restrictions. Armen Gasparyan responded that there have been three such cases.

The Deputy Minister clarified that previously, a woman was allowed to use reproductive assistance technologies or carry a pregnancy at the age of 53, while for surrogacy, the age was set at 55. Currently, there are no age limits in place.

In response to concerns raised by MP Gegham Nazaryan about the possibility of individuals over 70 seeking surrogacy, potentially jeopardizing the child's interests, the Deputy Minister acknowledged those concerns but emphasized that the process is not carried out under state funding.