Gamble & Ghevaert

Posts Tagged ‘egg donation’

Have your say - major HFEA review of donation policies

Monday, April 26th, 2010

 

A message from the HFEA:

 

Over the summer and autumn of 2010 the HFEA will be reviewing a number of its policies relating to sperm, egg and embryo donation. The aim of the review is to ensure HFEA policies facilitate safe and effective donation while protecting the interests of people affected by donation - donor conceived people, donors, parents and recipients. A public consultation will take place between October and December this year with final decisions being made in March 2011.  The policies to be reviewed include:

·        the number of families donors can donate to

·        expenses and compensation donors can receive for donation

·        donation between family members

·        the restrictions which donors can place on the use of their gametes or embryos

 

These policies will have an impact on future donors, recipients and donor conceived people. It is therefore crucial that these groups have the opportunity to feed into the review. If you’re a donor-conceived person, parent of a donor-concieved person, a donor, or have considered donation, the HFEA would like to hear your views.

 

If you would like to participate in this review, by providing your views on donation policies, please email donationreview@hfea.gov.uk with your name, contact details, and an indication of how you are affected by, or interested in, donation (e.g. donor, have considered donation, general public)

This information will us to send you information relevant to your interest in the donation review.  We will be seeking views through a variety of methods, including a written consultation document, consultation events, focus groups and one to one interviews. Confidentiality will be maintained throughout the consultation and you will be given the opportunity to contribute your views anonymously.

 

You can find out more about donor conception law from the Gamble and Ghevaert website.

 

 

Fertility law, assisted reproduction and the importance of specialist legal advice

Friday, February 19th, 2010

By Louisa Ghevaert, partner at Gamble and Ghevaert LLP

If you are thinking about or undergoing fertility treatment or assisted reproduction you will no doubt spend time and energy thinking about a range of factors including success rates, clinics, cost, treatment options, egg and sperm donation, timescales and process.  However, will you stop and think about the importance of specialist fertility law advice?  You wouldn’t buy a house, get divorced or make a Will without first obtaining legal advice.  So why take any unnecessary risks when you are building your much wanted family?

Fertility treatment and assisted reproduction is often time consuming, stressful, expensive and emotionally draining.  Why potentially make matters worse by failing to get to grips with the legal issues? Fertility law often overrides biology and this can create the wrong legal outcome for the unwitting, particularly as many people have complicated personal lives and family arrangements.

If you need third party assistance to conceive are you confident that the law will recognise you as a legal parent?  Are you sure you can be named as parent on your child’s birth certificate?  Will you be able to exercise parental responsibility and for example consent to medical treatment and vaccinations for your baby? Are you sure about the legal status your partner, spouse, surrogate or donor will have for your child?

If you adopt a laissez-faire approach or lull yourself into a false sense of security that the legal side of things will be alright you could be doing yourself and your family a huge disservice.  Once you have conceived it’s often too late to avoid some of the legal pitfalls and you may then need complicated legal solutions further down the line.

If you take early specialist fertility law advice before you conceive and you tackle the legal issues as they apply to your particular circumstances you may save yourself a lot of heartache.  A well drafted donor agreement if you’re involving a known donor or a clear understanding of surrogacy law if you plan to conceive through surrogacy or a specialist Will could save you time, money and worry.

Don’t leave the legal side of things to chance.  Fertility law isn’t always well designed for modern twenty first century living.  Invest in specialist fertility law advice at the start and take control of your family’s future.

For more information about family building see our family building service.