Exploring Legal Protections For Frozen Embryos

In 2021,China’s new Civil Code officially established a separate chapter on personality rights and added legal provisions on "things" related to human embryos,cells,and tissues.This legislative development responds to the needs of social reality and the rapid progress of biotechnology,which require timely legal protection of personality rights.The provisions in the chapter on personality rights regarding human embryos,cells,and tissues have generated novel concerns regarding the legal status and protection of diverse regenerative phenomena.With the increasing number of legal disputes concerning frozen embryos,their legal status has become a controversial topic in legal theory,leading to inconsistent judgments in judicial practice.The legislative framework pertaining to frozen embryos has become obsolete,and the existing pathways for relief in judicial practice are hindered,leading to an incomplete legal protection mechanism for frozen embryos.Based on the current legislative and judicial situation in China,this paper identifies several problems hindering the legal protection of frozen embryos,encompassing inadequacies in legislation,ambiguity surrounding legal status,indeterminate rights attribution,absence of disposal mechanisms,and inadequate judicial redress.As a response,this paper puts forth a proposal to enhance the legal protection of frozen embryos in China,taking into account the country’ s national conditions and drawing on foreign experiences through comparative analysis.First,it recommends the development of a specialized law on frozen embryos,which elevates the protection of frozen embryos to the legal level,determines the legal status of frozen embryos as "persons," establishes a registration system for frozen embryos,and clarifies the storage period for frozen embryos.In addition,it suggests clarifying/ it is essential to clarify the ownership and disposal methods of frozen embryos,through delineation of ownership and inheritance rights to frozen embryos,and reasonable application of preservation,donation,and destruction options for frozen embryos.Furthermore,to address infringements of frozen embryo rights,a legal remedy should be established,including spiritual damages compensation for third-party infringement and co-ownership infringement.These measures can effectively regulate and resolve legal disputes related to frozen embryos in China,ultimately improving the legal protection of frozen embryos.