The National Health Service (NHS) is a publicly funded healthcare system in the United Kingdom.
A lesbian couple are planning to use IVF to create a 'shared baby', the UK press has reported. Hayley Marlow and Vicky Hill want to have one of Ms Hill's eggs fertilised, using donor sperm, but to then implant any resulting embryo into Ms Marlow's womb. Ms Marlow would then...
The UK's Human Genetics Commission (HGC) and National Screening Committee (NSC) have published a joint report on the potential testing of newborn babies to detect genetic variations with health implications. The document, entitled 'Profiling the newborn', concludes that routine newborn genetic profiling is not likely to be affordable for at...
As the deadline for the partial implementation of guidelines recommending free fertility treatment for patients in England and Wales passed last week, a new survey reveals that many couples are still facing lengthy waits. Following guidance issued by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) in February 2004, which recommended...
Scottish couples at risk of having a child affected by a life-threatening inherited condition are set to benefit from a new preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) service. PGD involves testing IVF embryos, to ensure that only embryos unaffected by a particular genetic condition are returned to a woman's womb. Until now...
Proposed guidelines from the Welsh Assembly Government, put forward for consultation until 14 March, would rule out IVF treatment on the National Health Service (NHS) for couples if one partner already has a child. This would include adopted children and would apply even if the child does not live with...
The failure of the UK government to provide, or to identify additional funds for NHS funded IVF treatment is of increasing concern to many thousands of infertile couples, led to believe that they would receive such treatment following the report by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) in February...
Members of the UK parliament have called upon the government to make fertility treatment available on the National Health Service (NHS) to all couples in England and Wales with a proven need, regardless of where they live. Members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Infertility (APPGI) made their case...
A UK regional newspaper has offered its readers the chance to win free fertility treatment, as part of its campaign to raise awareness of infertility, the types of treatment available, and the lack of universal funding for treatment. The Birmingham Post has initiated the week-long campaign as it says that...
The UK's Medical Research Council (MRC) has published a report highlighting the need for 'improved monitoring and evaluation of assisted reproduction technology (ART)'. Called 'Assisted reproduction: a safe, sound future', the report follows a request from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) asking the MRC to review the evidence...
It is well recognised that genetic research raises ethical issues, such as the implications of increasing geno-centrism in healthcare. However the research process itself has attracted less attention. Most, if not all, genetic research in the United Kingdom is reviewed by a NHS Research Ethics Committee. This review typically doesn't...
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