Family Law & Fertility Law Blog | Louisa Ghevaert Associates

Developments in International Surrogacy Law and Practice

The international surrogacy landscape continues to evolve rapidly, with recent developments across Russia, Ukraine and in relation to legal recognition across the world. Russia’s war in Ukraine, increasing Russian nationalism and international policymakers’ ongoing efforts to legally recognise the parentage of surrogate born children across borders illustrates the complex and fast moving legal and political arena and continued need for expert navigation of international surrogacy arrangements.

Latest UK Trends in Egg, Sperm and Embryo Donation

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has just released its latest report on donation and donor treatments in the UK fertility sector in 2020. It reports a growing trend in donor conception in the UK, with the numbers of donor conceived children more than tripling between 2006 and 2019. However, demand for gamete donation continues to outstrip the availability of donor eggs and sperm in the UK, resulting in more than half of new sperm donors registered in the UK in 2020 donating in the USA or Denmark. There also continues to be underrepresentation of ethnic minority donors in the UK.

Global Decline in Sperm Counts: Do I Need To Be Concerned?

New research findings have just been published in Human Reproduction Update by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Icahn School of Medicine in New York which show that global sperm counts have halved over the last fifty years. In addition, the researchers found that declining sperm counts are accelerating across the world creating a fertility crisis akin to a ticking time bomb. As such, this decrease in male fertility represents a serious public health problem that requires focused responses by governments to recognise and safeguard male reproductive health for the future.

A Conversation with Professor Sir Rory Collins Chief Executive of UK Biobank

This week's blog takes a fascinating look at the career of Professor Sir Rory Collins, Chief Executive of UK Biobank and the Head of the Nuffield Department of Population Health at Oxford University, and the importance of the UK Biobank. To tell us more about his work and the ways UK Biobank is helping to transform our future health and family life, Louisa Ghevaert caught up with Professor Sir Rory Collins.

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