Dubai to dispose of 5,000 embryos

A fertility clinic in Dubai is to begin next week disposing of about 5,000 human embryos on religious grounds, AFP reports via Khaleej Times.

A 2008 federal law banned the storage of fertilized human eggs due to religion-based concerns over “mixing in the lineage” between families.

Eggs can be fertilized outside the womb during In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), which produces excess fertilized eggs which can be frozen for future use.

An estimated 5,000 fertilized eggs are stored at the state-owned Dubai Gynaecology and Fertility Centre, the only centre in the Gulf state allowed to perform IVF. Another 5,000 fertilized eggs are believed to be stored at Al-Tawam Hospital in Al-Ain, around 150 kilometres (95 miles) southeast of the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi.