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26
Jun
2023

Donor Conception Network’s 30th Anniversary

Louisa Ghevaert was delighted to attend the Donor Conception Network's 30th Anniversary celebration at 1GC Family Law in London on 23 June 2023. The event brought together donor conceived individuals and families, professionals, academics and supporters and highlighted the vital work being done by the Donor Conception Network across the UK.

13
Jun
2023

Decoding The Future of Women 2023

Louisa Ghevaert attended Decoding the Future of Women, a health tech conference, on 12 June 2023 during London Tech Week. Its mission was to positively change the FemTech sector by changing the narrative and addressing key issues and themes. What does the future hold for women? What does future fertility, longevity, scientific discovery and sustainability look like? It asked contributors (including investors, corporate innovators and cutting-edge start-ups) to bring their most visionary self to the conference. The results were fascinating insights about what an empowered female future looks like.

11
Jun
2023

2nd International Surrogacy Forum, Copenhagen, June 2023

Louisa Ghevaert was delighted to attend and join the debate at the 2nd International Surrogacy Forum in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 8-9 June 2023. The theme of the Forum was "Global surrogacy in a changing world - ethical. practical and legal developments in assisted reproduction and cross-border parenthood". The 2nd International Surrogacy Forum in Copenhagen was hosted by Aalborg University and Nordic Centre for International and Comparative Family Law (NorFam). It was co-organized by NorFam with Cambridge Family Law (CFL), the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the Family Law Section of the American Bar Association (ABA).

21
May
2023

Fertility Show Olympia London 2023

Louisa Ghevaert was delighted to attend the Fertility Show at London Olympia from 20-21 May 2023. The Fertility Show 2023 showcased top fertility experts, clinics and doctors from around the world, all dedicated to helping individuals successfully conceive and create modern families. The Fertility Show 2023 covered a wide range of issues including: difficulties getting pregnant, IVF treatment and new IVF techniques, adoption and fostering, options for the LGBTQ+ community, lifestyle changes to help with conception, egg and sperm donation, surrogacy, fertility testing.

14
May
2023

Sperm Donor Fraud: One Year On from Netflix’s Documentary “Our Father”

The impact of sperm donor fraud and ongoing work to counter this was addressed at the American Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA) Huntingdon Beach, California, Annual Conference from 30 April – 2 May 2023. This session was led by Jacoba Ballard, who featured in the Netflix 2022 Documentary "Our Father", being one of the first to suspect that well-known US fertility doctor Dr. Donald Cline had secretly replaced anonymous sperm samples and couples’ own sperm samples with his own.

09
May
2023

One Year On Since Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization [2022]

The American Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA) Huntingdon Beach, California, Annual Conference from 30 April – 2 May 2023 provided an in-depth review of current issues and challenges impacting fertility patients, intended parents, surrogates and professionals across the US assisted reproductive technology sector. This included a session which highlighted the importance of countering "anti-family legislation" across the US in the post-Dobbs era.

08
May
2023

American Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys 2023 Annual Conference

Louisa Ghevaert was delighted to attend the American Academy of Adoption & Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA) Huntingdon Beach, California, Annual Conference from 30 April - 2 May 2023.

21
Apr
2023

The Surrogacy Network: UK Surrogacy Law Reform 2023

I was delighted to attend The Surrogacy Network on 20 April 2023 to hear from The Law Commission on their proposals for surrogacy law reform in the UK. They propose a new pathway to legal parenthood for domestic surrogacy arrangements, to enable intended parents to become the surrogate born child’s legal parents at birth, subject to eligibility conditions. It stimulated wide ranging questions and debate on the future practice of surrogacy and how to improve the pathway to parenthood for parents, children and families.

30
Mar
2023

Building Families Through Surrogacy: Law Reform

On 29 March 2023, the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission published their long awaited final recommendations to reform surrogacy law in the UK, together with draft legislation. In doing so, they recommend a new system to govern surrogacy and improve surrogacy law in the UK for children, surrogates and intended parents. The UK Government must now review and consider whether to implement these recommendations.

16
Mar
2023

The Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing

Louisa Ghevaert attended the Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing held at the Francis Crick Institute in London from 6 - 8 March 2023. The Summit was arranged by the UK Royal Society, UK Academy of Medical Sciences, US National Academies of Sciences and Medicine and the World Academy of Sciences. Its aim was to address the progress, benefits and challenges in research, regulation and equitable development of human genome editing technologies and therapies.

14
Mar
2023

Declaration of Parentage Applications: The Significance of Legal and Biological Parenthood

The Family Court has heard a number of applications for a Declaration of Parentage recently. In November 2022, it determined an application by Amy Boudewijn for a Declaration that the late Errol Washington Johnson was her biological father. In February 2022, the Family Court also heard an application for a Declaration of Parentage where the status of legal parenthood was in doubt due to administrative errors made by clinic staff during fertility treatment.

03
Mar
2023

UK Adoption Order granted to a single non-biological mother for a child born through a Californian surrogacy arrangement

The recent family law case of J v K (Adoption) [2021] EWFC 115 determined the legal parentage of a single non-biological mother for a child born through a Californian surrogacy arrangement. The legal proceedings concerned an application by a solo mother (Ms J) for an adoption order under English law for her US born surrogate child.

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