Legislative projects regarding reproductive medicine

The FOPH is responsible for legislative projects in the reproductive medicine field. The FOPH is currently working on a proposal to implement the parliamentary motion to legalise egg donation.

The development of the Reproductive Medicine Act
Revisions of the Reproductive Medicine Act

The development of the Reproductive Medicine Act

Switzerland’s first regulatory provisions regarding reproductive medicine date back to the 1980s, when the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS) issued guidelines. Around half of the country’s cantons adopted legal provisions regulating reproductive medicine. There was no constitutional foundation at the time, however, for any such regulation at the federal level.

In 1986 the Federal Council commissioned a Human Genetics and Reproductive Medicine Committee to study the legal, social and ethical issues surrounding reproductive medicine and human genetics, a process which resulted in the Amstad Report (see links). The following year, 1987, brought the ‘Against the misuse of reproduction and genetic technology on humans’ people’s initiative, launched by the Beobachter magazine. The Federal Council and the Federal Assembly developed a direct counterinitiative in response to this, which was approved by the Swiss people in 1992 in both absolute and cantonal terms (Old Federal Constitution from 29 May 1874, Article 24^novies, see links; currently Articles 119 and 120 of the Federal Constitution).

Working on this constitutional foundation, the Swiss Federal Parliament approved the Federal Act on Medically Assisted Reproduction (Reproductive Medicine Act or RMA) in 1998. The new act entered into legal effect in 2001.

Responsibility for the RMA and the corresponding ordinance (RMO) lay with the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) until the end of 2008. Swiss reproductive medicine law has been the responsibility of the FOPH since the beginning of 2009.

The development and the creation of the Reproductive Medicine Act are documented in detail on the following page of the FOJ: Reproductive medicine.

Revisions of the Reproductive Medicine Act

Completed: Authorisation of preimplantation genetic diagnosis

The RMA came into effect in 2001. Since then it has undergone one substantial partial revision, which entered into effect in 2017. This revision permitted pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) – the genetic testing of embryos in vitro. Further information on these revisions can be found on the webpage entitled Revision concluded: Regulation of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.

Current: Authorisation of egg donation

In autumn 2022 the Swiss Federal Parliament approved the Swiss National Council’s Science, Education & Culture Committee’s motion no. 21.4341 to legalise egg donations for married couples seeking to have children (see link). On 29 January 2025, the Federal Council set out the main parameters and proposed to allow egg and sperm donation for unmarried couples as well. The FOPH is presently working on a preliminary draft for the revision of the RMA.

Further information can be found under Documents.

Documentation is available in German, French and Italian only.

Reproductive medicine legislation

The Federal Act of 18 December 1998 on Medically Assisted Reproduction lays down the conditions under which the methods of medically assisted reproduction may be used.