Chromosome analysis increases IVF success

A new method of looking for chromosomal abnormalities in embryos can increase the chance of successful IVF implantation, a recent study in the journal Fertilisation In Vitro has shown....[Read More]

To twin or not to twin? That is the (unasked) question

A recent spate of articles celebrating the birth of an IVF 'twin' five years after her brother left me perplexed. Why was this news, when embryo freezing has been in use since the mid-1980s? And as the children were not identical by what definition were they twins?

S.H. v Austria denies infertile Europeans human rights

Procreative liberty and the right to legal recognition of parent-child relationships continue to be prominent themes in disputes between individual citizens and government over access to assisted reproduction. The judiciary has been largely reluctant to state whether resort to reproductive technology is a human right...[Read More]

Book Review: Precious Babies - the author responds

I was delighted that Rachel Pepa's review of my book 'Precious Babies' concluded that it had much to recommend it as a guide to having children after fertility problems as that's exactly what the book is intended to be. I wasn't surprised that she didn't feel it addressed her issues as a donor-conceived adult because the book is not about donor conception or adults...[Read More]

£5.8m boost for mitochondrial disease research

An experimental genetic technique to prevent serious diseases from passing between mother and child is to receive £5.8 million funding. The Wellcome Trust is contributing £4.4 million to the new Centre for Mitochondrial Research at Newcastle University...[Read More]

Mouse sperm grown in lab

Researchers have successfully extracted germ cells - the cells that give rise to gametes - from the testes of mice, and used them to grow sperm in the lab...[Read More]

Lesbian woman in US who donated eggs to ex-partner granted parental rights over child

A Florida court has granted equal parental rights to two lesbian women who created a child using the eggs from one of the women, while the other carried the baby to term. It ruled that egg donors may acquire parental rights to children resulting from their gametes under the Florida and US Constitution....[Read More]

Freezing embryos after IVF may result in 'healthier' babies

A new study has shown that babies born following IVF using frozen embryos may be born later and weigh more than babies born from fresh embryos....[Read More]

Progress Educational Trust Conference: Should Assisted Conception Always Be Evidence-Based?

In what is now synonymous with Progress Educational Trust (PET)'s ethos, the final session of the annual conference, 'The Best Possible Start in Life: The Robust and Responsive Embryo', was a free-form debate. Following on from the previous sessions where a wealth of eminent researchers gave informative and often provocative talks, Guardian columnist Zoe Williams had the task of chairing what proved to be an entertaining debate...[Read More]

UK High Court grants parental orders in Indian surrogacy case

The UK's High Court has granted parental orders to a couple over two children born through an international surrogacy arrangement, ruling that payments made to the Indian surrogates were not 'disproportionate'...[Read More]

Sperm donor told to halt production by US regulator

A man in the United States is reportedly being investigated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after offering his sperm for donation. Trent Arsenault, a 36 year-old computer security expert from California, has set up a website offering his sperm without charge to anyone who wishes to use it to have a baby....[Read More]

Of family and finance: Israeli citizens without rights and HFEA remuneration

Living in Israel, where gamete donor anonymity still rules supreme, I confess I envy the UK's clear focus on the welfare of the donor conceived child and the evolution of the legal rights of offspring...[Read More]

Frozen embryos 'lost' by Ramsgate IVF

A fertility clinic in Kent is under investigation after reports that staff may have lost a woman's embryos. Alison Austin-Hennessy, 31, said she and her husband Michael were informed by a consultant at the private Chaucer Hospital that their embryos had been misplaced....[Read More]

The far-stretching reach of Mississippi's personhood amendment

On 8 November the Mississippi electorate voted against an amendment to the Bill of Rights in their state Constitution which would have redefined life as beginning at the moment of fertilisation – the so-called 'personhood amendment' (Proposition 26)...[Read More]

IVF treatment rises six percent in a year

There was a six percent rise last year in the number of fertility treatments carried out in the UK, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)...[Read More]

South African court sets out guidelines for surrogacy arrangements

A High Court in South Africa has set out guidelines for judicial approaches to surrogacy arrangements in light of new family law legislation which came into force last year....[Read More]

Fertility clinics and their patients suffer from HFEA's (lack of) communication strategy

The general public has been well informed about the HFEA's proposed changes in compensation for gamete donors. However, there has been no direct communication with licensed centres and no clear indication of when regulations will change. As a result we are having difficulty dealing with a wave of enthusiasm from potential donors...[Read More]

European Court of Human Rights upholds Austria's ban on egg or sperm donation for IVF

IVF using donated egg or sperm other than from a spouse will remain banned in Austria. This was the final decision made by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) on 3 November in the closing of the case SH and others v Austria....[Read More]

Film Review: Eggsploitation

'Eggsploitation' highlights some worrying issues with the way in which egg-harvesting currently operates. Yet it leaves the viewer with the feeling that they haven't been shown the whole picture and a sneaking suspicion that a hidden agenda is at play...[Read More]

Ethical principles and the HFEA's donation review

At a public meeting on 19 October, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) decided to move to a 'flat rate' system of monetary compensation for egg donors. The HFEA also decided to leave the regulations governing egg sharing substantially unchanged. Critics have already raised concerns about the quality of the discussion at the meeting, I want to look at a quite different issue: the use made by the HFEA of the idea of 'ethical principles'...[Read More]