Legal Liability Landscape and the Person/Property Divide

Cryopreservation offers options for increasing the success of IVF procedures and facilitating the use of donor gametes. Cryopreservation also introduces legal complications about which clinical staff should be aware. This chapter will review the legal landscape for embryo and gamete cryopreservation including the status of embryos as persons versus property, decisions about cryopreserved products and their abandonment, the definition of parenthood for heterosexual and same sex couples including their use of donor gametes and embryos, and posthumous reproduction. The focus will be on complications that can arise following cryopreservation and the resultant importance of a robust-informed consent processes.