The past 30 years have seen the fertility sector undergo considerable change and expansion, not
just in scientific and medical terms but in sociocultural and commercial terms as well.
Journalist, Sarah Graham, writes in an article in the BMJ describing how the UK's regulatory body needs to update the UK's 30 year old legislation and how this could happen.
Sarah Norcross, director at PET, states that the law is 'overly prescriptive' when it comes to introducing new scientific developments. 'It's not really the place for law and government to specify which techniques are permitted. They should allow a regulatory body to hear and weigh the evidence and decide if something's safe and effective, which would allow new techniques to be introduced much more quickly. Otherwise potential scientific breakthroughs can end up being stymied while waiting for the law to change'
'Nobody has a crystal ball and it’s really difficult to understand the importance of what you’re signing or not signing until something goes wrong.' said Natalie Sutherland, partner at Burgess Mee Family Law and PET trustee, who would like to see patients required to seek mandatory private legal advice before starting treatment, rather than it simply being recommended.
