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20
Apr
2024

Mary Warnock at 100: The Architect of Embryo Law

Louisa Ghevaert was delighted to attend Progress Educational Trust's event on 17 April 2024 "Mary Warnock at 100: The Architect of Embryo Law". This event looked at the continued influence of Baroness Mary Warnock DBE, one of our most significant twentieth century philosophers, in the field of fertility. Mary died age 94 in 2019. However, her work on bioethics and her legacy lives on having fundamentally shaped law, policy and practice for assisted reproductive technology in the UK and around the world.

25
Mar
2024

FemTech Lab Spring 2024 Connect

Louisa Ghevaert had the pleasure of attending FemTech Lab’s Spring ‘24 Connect event at 22 Bishopsgate venue in London on 14 March 2024. It brought together creative minds, leaders, experts and entrepreneurs from across the digital and female health and consumer spaces. Its mission is to foster vision, inspiration, change, solutions and impact across the women’s health and technology sectors. This resonates in many ways in terms of building a better and brighter future and movement to address the gender health data gap, build trust and provide solutions and not just diagnostics at all stages of women’s lives.

22
Mar
2024

Welfare of the Fertility Patient: Spotting and Treating Trauma

On 13 March 2023, Louisa Ghevaert was pleased to attend Progress Educational Trust's event "Welfare of the Fertility Patient: Spotting Signs and Treatment after Trauma". This raised awareness of the importance of considering the welfare of fertility patients and not just the welfare of the child. At present, there is nothing in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (as amended) which explicitly states that the welfare of patients should be considered.

01
Mar
2024

Fertility Treatment & Surrogacy In The Workplace

Louisa Ghevaert had the pleasure of networking with colleagues and professionals at The Surrogacy Network’s latest event in London on Thursday 29 February 2024. The focus of the meeting was "Embracing Surrogacy in the Workplace" with a really insightful presentation from Claire Ingle from Fertility Matters at Work. There is currently no statutory right to time off work for appointments for fertility treatment. Legal protection only applies from the point at which a person has an embryo implanted and they are classed as pregnant.

13
Feb
2024

Surrogacy: What Do Midwives Need To Know?

Louisa Ghevaert is delighted to join a panel of speakers on a webinar hosted by the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) on 22 February 2024 entitled "Surrogacy: What Do Midwives Need To Know?". Louisa's session will help ensure midwives are aware of the current legal framework around surrogacy in the UK, and proposed legal changes, to enable them to provide appropriate care and support. The webinar will also provide extensive lived experiences of surrogates and intended parents within maternity services with sessions from Sarah Jones from Surrogacy UK and Michael and Wes Johnson-Ellis from My Surrogacy Journey.

08
Feb
2024

IVF Add-Ons: How Should We Score the HFEA’s New Ratings System?

On 7 February 2024 Louisa Ghevaert was delighted to attend Progress Educational Trust's informative event on the HFEA's new IVF 'Add-Ons' ratings system. It looked at the development, understanding, evidence and use of IVF 'Add-Ons'. It also celebrated 25 years of publishing BioNews, an online newsletter publishing news on the science, law and ethics of human genetics, assisted conception, and related topics.

13
Jan
2024

Declining Global Fertility Rates: A Growing Problem

The global decline in fertility rates needs to be addressed according to an International Federation of Fertility Societies (IFFS) consensus paper published in Human Reproduction Update on 10 January 2024. It reports that half the countries around the world have a fertility rate below population replacement level. It goes on to predict that many countries will experience population decline of more than 50 percent between 2017 and 2100, leading to serious demographic changes and implications for societies around the world. As such, there needs to be greater focus on the human right to have a family, family-friendly policies and better access to fertility care.

04
Jan
2024

Posthumous Conception Law: Should I Consider This?

Individual fertility is precious and fragile, making it worthy of protection in life and after death. A person's individual fertility enables the conception of a biological child. However, their fertility is impacted by age, health, declining fertility rates, personal circumstances, unexpected accident and death. The death of a loved one can be devastating for surviving partners, spouses and relatives. It can also create complex issues in seeking to fulfill a deceased loved one’s family building wishes and preserve their biological and genetic legacy. As such, it is important to proactively consider and actively protect individual fertility and biological legacy and not leave this to chance.

29
Dec
2023

Declaration Of Parentage: Will This Resolve My Personal Identity, Legal And Biological Parenthood?

Questions about personal identity, legal and biological parenthood and birth certificates can arise in different ways and create all sorts of complex issues. In some cases, they can come about because of personal searches and histories involving absent parents, adoption and donor conception. For others, unexpected discoveries and issues can arise following a direct-to-consumer DNA test, death of a relative, conversation with a family member, an encounter with a genetic relative or an application for a new birth certificate or passport. This can in turn necessitate a court application for a Declaration of Parentage.

14
Dec
2023

Fertility Law Reform In The UK: How Much Change Do We Want?

On 6 December 2023, Progress Educational Trust held its excellent Annual Conference "How Much Change Do We Want? Updating Fertility Embryo And Surrogacy Law". The conference offered fascinating insight into the origins and history of fertility law in the UK, its evolution over time and the challenges we face moving forward given ongoing rapid developments in science, medicine and assisted reproductive technology.

13
Dec
2023

UK Surrogacy Law Reform On Hold

On 9 November 2023, the UK government provided an interim response to the Law Commissions of England, Wales and Scotland’s recommendations for UK surrogacy law reform. In doing so, Maria Caulfield MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care), and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women), stated that “While we appreciate the importance of this work, parliamentary time does not allow for these changes to be taken forward at the moment.” She further stated that government would publish its full response in due course.

22
Nov
2023

Podcast: The Surrogate

In this podcast broadcaster and actress Sue Perkins and journalist Katherine Denkinson examine the story of how one woman, who took on over six different identities, infiltrated the lives of vulnerable people, and lied her way into gaining their trust. Episode 3 of this 6 part series entitled "Carrie Jade Does Not Exist: Episode 3 The Surrogate", tells the story of how one woman became an au pair and a surrogate. Fertility lawyer, Louisa Ghevaert, features in this episode discussing people's motivations for undergoing surrogacy, law and its regulation in the UK.

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