Category: Louisa Ghevaert

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20
Jun
2022

Blog, Donor conception law, embryo law, fertility law, Louisa Ghevaert, Modern family law

Egg, sperm and embryo freezing: what could go wrong?

Egg, sperm and embryo freezing can help preserve and maximise individual fertility. However, it is not a failsafe way to guarantee conception and delivery of a much-wanted baby. There are a variety of practical and legal issues to consider. Not freezing gametes and embryos at all, delaying collection and freezing and failing to build up sufficient reserves of frozen eggs, sperm and embryos can undermine your chances of successful family building. Failing to consider the legal aspects which govern the storage and use of frozen eggs, sperm and embryos in fertility treatment can also create unwanted problems and even prevent their use in treatment.

08
Jun
2022

Blog, Louisa Ghevaert, Modern family law, Parenting law

Declaration of parentage: confirming family ancestry and biological parentage following adoption

The recent family law case of Ms L; Ms M (Declaration of Parentage) [2022] EWFC 38 determined fundamental questions about ‘who is my parent?’. The legal proceedings concerned applications by two women who had been adopted as babies and whether decades later they could obtain declarations of parentage to resolve their family ancestry, confirm the identities of their biological fathers and rectify their original birth certificates to add the name of their birth father. In making these applications, the two women gave compelling evidence about the importance of obtaining declarations of parentage notwithstanding being adopted to resolve their personal identities and lineage, aid their long-term psychological welfare and acquire dual citizenship.

31
May
2022

Blog, Donor conception law, embryo law, fertility law, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, Modern family law, Parenting law, Surrogacy law

The future of IVF and surrogacy in the US if Roe v Wade is overturned

The recent leak of a draft opinion from the US Supreme Court in the case of Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health has raised many questions about the future of reproductive rights and freedoms in the US. The leaked draft ruling suggests it could overturn a 50-year-old precedent (Roe v Wade) establishing abortion rights in the US. If so, it would restrict the rights and reproductive freedoms of millions of women and raise questions about the future of assisted reproductive technologies (‘ART’) including IVF and surrogacy in some US states, triggering restrictive US State Laws that extend legal protections to embryos. This would in turn call into question the legality of embryo research, growing embryos in the lab, genetically testing embryos, embryo freezing and disposal of embryos.

27
May
2022

Blog, Donor conception law, embryo law, fertility law, Louisa Ghevaert

Fertility Law Reform in the UK: What Needs to Change?

The government has tasked the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to review and make recommendations for fertility law reform in the UK. The HFEA hopes to reach an outline agreement with the Department for Health and Social Care before the end of 2022 on what needs to change. In doing so, the HFEA has identified three key areas of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 which are in need of reform to take better account of (1) patient protection, (2) scientific developments and (3) consent, data sharing and anonymity. However, there are still many complex issues which require careful thought and debate in terms of further fertility law reform in the UK. A balance needs to be struck which enables us to take greater account of ongoing rapid developments in science, medicine and reproductive technologies and the needs of patients, whilst at the same time does not deliver overly onerous and restrictive fertility law and governance in the UK moving forward.

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