Swiss decide on assisted procreation

For several years, assisted procreation in Switzerland has been conducted in accordance with a series of guidelines produced between 1981 and 1990 by the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences. The most recent of these is reproduced below. Whether Swiss doctors can continue to work according to its guidance has, however, been put in doubt by the result of a national referendum on 17 May, 1992. This rejected, by a large majority, storage of embryos: it it becomes part of Swiss statute law, in vitro fertilisation will become much more difficult. Its effect is discussed after the guidelines.