The first child conceived in Portugal after the death of the father was born today, according to the mother who led the initiative to change the law to allow ‘post-mortem’ insemination.
“Today our world got brighter, Guilherme was born at 11:09 with 3.915 kilos and 50.5 centimeters,” revealed his mother, Ângela Ferreira on the social network Instagram.
The project to enshrine ‘post-mortem’ insemination in the Law on Medically Assisted Procreation (PMA), approved in 2021, was born out of a Citizen’s Legislative Initiative, promoted by Ângela Ferreira, who wanted to get pregnant with her husband who died in March 2019 from cancer.
Ângela Ferreira announced the birth of her son in a message that also includes a tribute to her husband.
“Now I’m going to isolate myself in this bubble of love and enjoy it as much as I can. I could and perhaps should say more, but right now I want to enjoy this endless love,” she said.
According to CNN Portugal, Hugo Guilherme Castro Ferreira was born today at the Centro Materno-Infantil do Norte in Porto.
At the time, the initiative to change the law sparked a great debate inside and outside parliament, which ended up approving the decree on March 25, 2021, allowing the use of this technique in cases of expressly consented parental projects, but which was vetoed on April 22 and returned to parliament by the President of the Republic, on the grounds that issues relating to inheritance rights should be clarified.
Six months later, the decree was approved in parliament, with proposed amendments from the PS, BE, PCP, PAN and PEV, answering the doubts raised by the head of state, who promulgated the law two weeks later.
The law in question provides for the use of PMA techniques through insemination with semen after the death of the donor, in cases of expressly consented parental projects.
