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Modern Families Forum 2025

On 19 June 2025, Louisa Ghevaert had the pleasure of attending Resolution's Modern Families Forum 2025 in London. Lord Justice Peter Jackson delivered an illuminating keynote address on legal parentage and the challenges this can present for families when the circumstances of a child’s conception, parentage and parental responsibility fall into dispute. This was followed by a modern family law case update and sessions which grappled with the technicalities of who has or doesn’t have parentage and parental responsibility in law. It served as a reminder that modern family and assisted conception law continues to evolve rapidly and that it can create all sorts of tricky issues when people build or restructure families and parental status and rights are disputed. 
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Family on beach

DNA Testing Firm 23andMe Avoids Bankruptcy With $256m Sale: What Happens To My Genetic Data?

DNA testing firm 23andMe avoids bankruptcy with an announcement on 19 May 2025 that it will be bought by US biotechnology company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for $256 million (approximately £192 million). Regeneron Pharmaceuticals plans to operate 23andMe and continue all consumer genome services as a wholly-owned company subsidiary. This follows news reports on 23 March 2025 that 23andMe had petitioned for bankruptcy following financial difficulties and data privacy concerns after a cyber hack in 2023 which affected personal data of 7 million users. However, this continues to raise questions for 15 million users worldwide about what will happen to their genetic information?
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Growing Families UK & EU Surrogacy & Donor Conception Conference 2025

On 10 May 2025 Louisa Ghevaert was pleased to attend the Growing Families UK and EU Surrogacy and Donor Conception Conference 2025, together with and an industry professional networking event on 9 May 2025 in London. This conference brought together fertility, surrogacy agency, academic and legal experts from around the world, as well as past and present intended parents building families through fertility treatment, international surrogacy and donor conception. It shone a light on current surrogacy and donor conception laws, trends and practices. It also provided insight into current medical, legal, ethical, financial and practical aspects associated with these forms of family building.
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Spain Cracks Down on International Surrogacy

The Spanish government has this week (1 May 2025) cracked down on international surrogacy and banned embassies and consulates from registering children born through foreign surrogacy arrangements. Whilst surrogacy is prohibited in Spain, Spanish intended parents previously got round this by entering into international surrogacy arrangements and then registering their surrogate born child abroad with the help of foreign court rulings (e.g. from the US or Canada) recognizing them as their baby's parents. Diplomats had accepted foreign court rulings and authorised the child's registration in the Spanish Civil Registry, but this has now changed following a legal ruling by Spain's Supreme Court in December 2024 which determined that this procedure was illegal.
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