Family Law & Fertility Law Blog | Louisa Ghevaert Associates

Fertility treatment and IVF in the workplace

Louisa Ghevaert highlights the need for change in workplace culture and policies in today's Mail Online article about working women undergoing fertility treatment and IVF in the workplace. Despite one in seven couples receiving fertility treatment, thanks to advances in medicine, the article reports that as of 2019 only 23 percent of employers had fertility treatment policies in place, although more are starting to create them. It also highlights personal stories of multiple women who have experienced discrimination at work and redundancy for having IVF treatment.

Human genome editing in a fertility context: The World Health Organization’s framework for governance of human genome editing

People regularly ask what genomics has got to do with fertility (beyond genetic testing of embryos) and assisted reproduction law and policy. They are often puzzled about the link between genomic technology and fertility and why this is something they should think about or concern themselves with, instead equating gene editing technology with scientists in laboratories and pharmaceutical trials focused on curing cancer and conditions like sickle-cell and Huntington’s disease.

IVF rights in France to be extended to single women and lesbian couples

This week (29 June 2021), the French parliament passed a bill which will give single women and lesbian couples the right to access fertility treatment in France. Up until now, restrictive laws have meant that only heterosexual couples have been eligible to undergo fertility treatment, such as IVF, in France. This left single women and lesbian couples having to travel abroad for fertility treatment. As such, this new legislation means that for the first time in France all women under 43 will be able to access fertility treatment regardless of sexual orientation or relationship status.

UK fertility treatment trends over the last 30 years

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (‘HFEA’) published its latest statistics and analysis of fertility treatment trends in the UK las month (May 2021). This coincided with the HFEA’s 30th anniversary following its introduction in 1991. It paints a largely positive picture prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, showing marked increases in fertility treatment success rates over the last 30 years. Overall, since 1991 approximately 1.3 million IVF cycles and more than 260,000 DI cycles have been undertaken in the UK, resulting in the birth of 390,000 babies. This represents a significant achievement.

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