TV Review: The Philippines – Wombs for hire
While providing empathy and a platform for the surrogates, this programme effectively illuminated the nuances while not forgetting that this industry directly impacts people...
Ruth Retassie
Ruth Retassie is a Volunteer Writer at BioNews. She currently works in behavioural health. She has an MA in the History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine from Durham University, she has also interned in bioethics with Yale University's Interdisciplinary Centre for Bioethics and the University of Pittsburgh's Consortium Ethics Programme.BioNews Articles by Ruth Retassie
Filipino surrogates convicted by Cambodian court
Thirteen Filipino surrogates have been convicted of human trafficking in Cambodia...
Class action lawsuits against genetic testing companies over PGT-A
Former IVF patients in the USA have filed class action lawsuits against several companies for misleading them about the efficacy of PGT-A...
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Queensland passes first fertility treatment legislation
The Queensland parliament has passed the state's first assisted conception laws, which include plans to create a retrospective donor-registry by 2026...
Book Review: Inconceivable – Super sperm donors, off-the-grid insemination and unconventional family planning
This book is part memoir, part informational; Bauman details the historical, scientific, legal, and cultural contexts surrounding assisted reproduction in the USA as she relays her experiences navigating these herself...
Error in incubator cleaning process destroys embryos
A lab worker accidentally destroyed embryos at a fertility clinic in California, leading patients to sue...
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Alabama politicians draft legislation to save IVF following embryo ruling
Alabama legislators have agreed new laws to protect IVF after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered unborn children...
Event Review: Gene Editing – A new legal frontier
Professor Imogen Goold's lecture about the ethical issues surrounding the use of genome editing in humans gets Ruth Retassie thinking about how our society treats disability...
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Fertility app fined $200,000 for sharing customers' health data
A fertility app that shared users' private information without their consent was fined $200,000 by the US Federal Trade Commission and will be subject to permanent restrictions on data sharing...
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Couple who lost embryos sue IVF oil manufacturer
A California couple is suing the manufacturer of an oil used during IVF, claiming a faulty batch of oil destroyed their embryos...