30 March 2020
The British Fertility Society’s Study Week 2020 will be delivered ‘virtually’ this year given the Covid-19 pandemic. Louisa Ghevaert will re-join the panel of expert speakers at the British Fertility Society’s annual Modern Families Day on 15 June 2020 and deliver a session addressing the legal aspects of surrogacy. This virtual Modern Families Day training module is aimed at doctors and fertility nurse specialists in the UK. It will address the complexities and evolving regulatory, clinical and legal issues associated with creating modern families through fertility treatment, gamete donation and surrogacy during these unprecedented times. Delegates will be able to access lectures remotely and enjoy the same content that would have been available in person during The British Fertility Society’s Study Week. Dates will also be made available for question and answer sessions with speakers.
The wide-ranging programme will address important and evolving issues affecting the fertility sector including the changing face of the modern family, regulatory and legal issues associated with conception with donor gametes, cross-border fertility care, treatment of single women and same-sex female couples, egg and embryo donation and sharing, adoption, surrogacy, the role of counselling in contemporary family creation, the fertility patient perspective and fertility and gender reassignment.
Louisa Ghevaert, who is a preeminent expert in fertility and family law for modern families in the UK, will address recent developments in surrogacy law, policy and practice in the UK in what remains a rapidly evolving area. Her session will include surrogacy law reform, the legal aspects and risks of surrogacy arrangements and court applications for parental orders in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. It will also cover surrogacy and fertility claims following medical negligence and legal issues that arise when families formed through surrogacy breakdown.
Dr Alka Prakash, lead consultant at Cambridge IVF, will look at fertility treatment for single women and same-sex female couples. Dr Jane Stewart, Chair of the British Fertility Society and Head of the Newcastle Fertility Centre, will cover the principles and issues surrounding egg donation and sharing.
Dr Jan Grace, Consultant Gynaecologist at Assisted Conception Units at Guy’s Hospital, will cover the reasons for undertaking surrogacy, clinical outcomes for intended parents and surrogates and the importance of a dedicated multi-disciplinary team of nurses, clinicians and counsellors.
Dr James Barrett, Director of the Gender Identity Clinic and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Imperial College of Science and Medicine, will look at gender dysphoria and fertility treatment. Suzanne Dark, Senior Fertility Counsellor at Jessop Fertility Clinic will look at the role of counselling in the creation of modern families through donation and surrogacy.
Dr Vasanti Javda from the Centre for Family Research will address the changing face and dynamics of modern families. Lawyer James Lawford-Davies will look at regulation and legal aspects of using donor gametes. Rachel Cutting MBE, Director of Compliance and Information at the HFEA, will look at cross-border fertility care and best practice.
The creation of modern families through UK and cross-border fertility treatment, gamete donation and surrogacy raises challenging issues for clinicians, nurses, counsellors, patients, surrogates, donors and children and never more so than in light of the ongoing global Covid-19 pandemic. The British Fertility Society Modern Families Day 2020 will draw together expert and multi-disciplinary approaches to fertility treatment and contemporary family building that will help address the evolving medical, legal and wider issues in the short, medium and longer term.
If you would like more information about the British Fertility Society’s Virtual Study Week 2020 and its Modern Families Day module click here.
Need an expert surrogacy lawyer or fertility and family lawyer? If you would like to discuss your situation or you require specialist fertility and family law advice and assistance please contact Louisa by email louisa@louisaghevaertassociates.co.uk or by telephone +44 (0)20 7965 8399.
