organ

Apart from some concessions from the Minister, Campbell J disallowed the taxpayer's claims for medical expense tax credits relating to in vitro fertilization treatments in New York and then in the Ukraine.

Unlike Zieber, which dealt with a fertilized egg, an unfertilized egg does not satisfy the dictionary definition of an "organ" (para. 18) and therefore in vitro fertilization is not an "organ transplant" under s. 118.2(2)(l.1).

Beaubier D.J. found that the taxpayer's expenses relating to transplanting his and his wife's embryo into a surrogate mother qualified for a medical expense tax credit. He stated (at paras. 7-8):

In the view of the Court, a fertilized egg or embryo such as the one in question, is adapted by its structure to grow into a complete human being.