Gamble and Ghevaert take the view that the government’s recent decision to scrap the HFEA is a big mistake, aimed only at short term cost savings. The HFEA has led the world in fertility sector best practice since its inauguration in August 1991 and it is a highly regarded guardian of our world leading fertility treatment and embryo research. We work with leading fertility lawyers around the world and have listened to their struggles in regulating fertility best practice and their envy of our specialist watchdog. The HFEA is a long established institution providing a much needed point of reference and a source of public information on assisted reproduction generally and its loss will be great at a time when more people than ever before are turning to third party reproduction as a means of building their family and badly need guidance.
Posts Tagged ‘fertility treatment’
Scrapping the HFEA is a mistake
Friday, September 24th, 2010HFEA set to be abolished as part of government’s slash of quangos
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010The government announced this week that the HFEA was one of several quangos set to be axed, as part of the government’s bid to cut costs and reduce the UK’s deficit. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has regulated fertility treatment and embryo research in the UK since 1991, and its responsibility includes licensing and overseeing fertility clinics, giving ethical and policy guidance and ensuring public confidence in the developing science of assisted reproduction and embryo research. Its functions will be retained, but carved up between other existing public bodies, including the Department of Health and the Care Quality Commission.
The Chair of the HFEA, Lisa Jardine said:
“IVF needs to be effectively regulated and the current system has served the public, patients and licensed centres well. Our task now is to deliver the organisational change that the Government has decided on and to ensure the continuity of the very high standard of regulation that the sector deserves and expects. I am determined that the success story that is regulated assisted reproduction in the UK will continue.”
The art of baby making
Monday, January 11th, 2010Deciding that the time is right to build a family is a defining moment in your life. However, unfortunately this is all too often just the start of a long and difficult journey to parenthood, fraught with many potential problems and pitfalls along the way. Whether you are a single gay man or woman or in a relationship, there is a definite art to building a family and making babies.
The problems
For prospective same-sex parents the obvious biological difficulties create major hurdles to overcome in the baby making process. Decisions inevitably have to be made about sourcing anonymous or known donor sperm, donor eggs, surrogacy or the merits of co-parenting. The wrong decision at the outset can lead to all manner of problems further down the line.
Many people are often short of time, lack peace of mind about their choice or feel overwhelmed by the different options for creating a family. Issues of, timing, cost, treatment and general logistics can lead to knee jerk decisions, wasted time and money, legal complications and a lot of heartache.
Take for example John, a successful marketing consultant, who’s always wanted a family of his own and feels the time is right to get started. What are his options as a single gay man? He could adopt, co-parent with a female friend, consider surrogacy in the UK or abroad or get himself a partner with children. However, there is so much to get to grips with in terms of understanding the fertility sector as a whole, knowing the fertility treatment options and tackling the often complex underlying legal issues. John simply doesn’t know where to start and he doesn’t want to mess things up. His concerns often keep him awake at night and are stopping him from taking the plunge.
Solutions
John should be encouraged to know that he isn’t alone in his wish to build a family and there is good quality of advice and information out there if he knows where to look. Once he appreciates the bigger picture and takes more control, family building and baby making becomes easier. So, what are some of the basics John should think about?
Navigating the fertility and parenting sector
John would benefit enormously from a greater understanding of how the law works. John needs to get clear in his own mind whether he wants parental autonomy or whether he would be happy to share parenting and if so the degree of his involvement on a day to day basis.
John then needs to think about the practicalities of achieving his goal. He will need to understand better the wide range of services available in the fertility and parenting sector. These include UK licensed fertility clinics, the issues surrounding informal conception, the role of the not-for-profit organisations in the UK including Infertility Network UK, Donor Conception Network, COTS, Surrogacy UK, the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), the framework surrounding fertility treatment in the UK and options if he were to build a family abroad.
If John decides that conception is the way to go, understanding the basic different fertility treatment options is key. It may be stating the obvious, but no one is born knowing the difference between IVF, IUI, ICSI, straight or host surrogacy, and it makes sense to take a little time to explore these at the outset. This can help John to gather more information and medical help and support with better efficiency.
Underlying legal issues
John shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that everything will be straightforward legally. Building a family through assisted conception often creates a legal minefield. The law isn’t always logical and he really does need to understand the legal basics, including legal parenthood, parental responsibility, issues of citizenship and the importance of family-proofing his Will.
Having a family is no longer the preserve of straight couples. Time have changed and with recent improvements to the law there are now more options than ever to build a family and become a parent. You just need to know how to go about it in the right way.
For more information on our family building service see our website.