International surrogacy has become big news. Last month, a landmark international commercial surrogacy case, Re L [1], attracted front page national headlines. Hard on its heels the media spotlight fell on the birth of Elton John and David Furnish's US surrogate born son, Zachary, on Christmas Day. This has fuelled the debate about surrogacy and the question is why has it generated such attention? The decision in Re L attracted front page national headlines because it marks a significant watershed in the history of UK surrogacy law. For the first time the court has made clear that the child's welfare will trump public policy on payments. It is only the third published case of its kind to ratify a foreign commercial surrogacy arrangement. Having represented the parents in this case (as well as the first parents to secure a parental order in the case of X&Y in 2008 [2]) I know how difficult and sensitive these applications are and quite how much is at stake.
In Re L, a High Court judge, Mr Justice Hedley, awarded legal parenthood to the British couple who entered into a commercial surrogacy arrangement with a surrogate mother in Illinois, USA. Notwithstanding the public policy ban on commercial surrogacy in the UK (which allows only the payment of reasonable pregnancy related expenses to a surrogate, unless retrospectively authorised by the English court on a case by case basis), the judge decided that the welfare of the child (known only as 'L') was the paramount consideration.
Mr Justice Hedley ruled that legal changes last year now (for the first time) weight the balance between public policy and the welfare of the child decisively in favour of welfare except in the clearest case of abuse of public policy. He authorised the British parents' commercial payment to their surrogate and awarded them legal parenthood. In doing so, he highlighted the legal difficulties surrounding re-entry into the UK after the birth, the need for intended parents to grapple with immigration control and the continuing lack of availability of good quality information. He warned that the court would continue to police the public policy concerns and scrutinise the issue of payments carefully. He also added that the legal criteria had been 'fully met' by the 'most careful and conscientious parents' in this case.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/gmHLou
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Monday, 10 January 2011
Mother to freeze eggs for her infertile daughter with Turner Syndrome
A mother plans to freeze her eggs so that her infertile daughter may someday be able to use them to give birth to her own brother or sister.
Toddler Mackenzie Stephens was born with Turner Syndrome, a hereditary condition which means she is missing an X-chromosome. The condition, which only affects girls, means two-year-old Mackenzie was born without ovaries, preventing her from ever having a child of her own naturally.
When Penny Jarvis, herself a mother of five, learnt that her daughter might never be able to have children of her own, she was devastated. So Ms Jarvis, 25, has decided to freeze her own eggs so someday Mackenzie can use them for IVF and start a family. However, technically, this means Mackenzie's future child would be both her offspring and her sibling.
Ms Jarvis described how she and partner Karl Stephens, 42, were distraught when the doctor broke the news about their daughter's condition. The full-time mother from Sheffield, said: 'The doctor was talking about chromosomes and things and it was all a bit of a blur.
'The only word I heard at the time was 'infertility' and I just burst into tears. It's what most people want to be; a mum. 'She has three sisters and I couldn't imagine her growing up and watching them all have children while she couldn't have any of her own. 'Obviously, every mother wants to be a grandmother someday - that's what they dream of.
'As I was leaving the hospital, the consultant told me not to look up Turner Syndrome on the internet as it was full of worst-case scenarios. 'But, of course, I did it anyway. As soon as we were over the shock, Karl and I looked it up together as we had never even heard of it before and neither had any of our friends.
'While some of the stuff I was reading was scary - talk of congenital heart defects and diabetes - I discovered that egg donation was a possibility.' Enlarge Mackenzie has Turner Syndrome, which means she doesn't have ovaries Turner Syndrome affects one in every 2,500 girls. It causes a number of mental and physical health issues, but most can be corrected or treated with surgery, drugs and psychological therapy.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/erpsFV
Toddler Mackenzie Stephens was born with Turner Syndrome, a hereditary condition which means she is missing an X-chromosome. The condition, which only affects girls, means two-year-old Mackenzie was born without ovaries, preventing her from ever having a child of her own naturally.
When Penny Jarvis, herself a mother of five, learnt that her daughter might never be able to have children of her own, she was devastated. So Ms Jarvis, 25, has decided to freeze her own eggs so someday Mackenzie can use them for IVF and start a family. However, technically, this means Mackenzie's future child would be both her offspring and her sibling.
Ms Jarvis described how she and partner Karl Stephens, 42, were distraught when the doctor broke the news about their daughter's condition. The full-time mother from Sheffield, said: 'The doctor was talking about chromosomes and things and it was all a bit of a blur.
'The only word I heard at the time was 'infertility' and I just burst into tears. It's what most people want to be; a mum. 'She has three sisters and I couldn't imagine her growing up and watching them all have children while she couldn't have any of her own. 'Obviously, every mother wants to be a grandmother someday - that's what they dream of.
'As I was leaving the hospital, the consultant told me not to look up Turner Syndrome on the internet as it was full of worst-case scenarios. 'But, of course, I did it anyway. As soon as we were over the shock, Karl and I looked it up together as we had never even heard of it before and neither had any of our friends.
'While some of the stuff I was reading was scary - talk of congenital heart defects and diabetes - I discovered that egg donation was a possibility.' Enlarge Mackenzie has Turner Syndrome, which means she doesn't have ovaries Turner Syndrome affects one in every 2,500 girls. It causes a number of mental and physical health issues, but most can be corrected or treated with surgery, drugs and psychological therapy.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/erpsFV
Saturday, 8 January 2011
Study of children raised by lesbian parents using known or unknown sperm donors
There is no evidence that lesbians’ children are hurt or damaged by meeting their sperm donor fathers, a small study says.
The study, by researchers at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, used data from the US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study.
Seventy-eight teenagers were studied, Reuters reports.
A third of the donors knew their offspring, just over a third were permanently anonymous and 18 could be contacted once the child turned 18.
Using questionnaires and interviews, the researchers found no difference in the mental health of teenagers who knew their fathers or did not.
Another study, by the University of Cambridge, interviewed 23 sperm and egg donors who all said they had positive experiences with meeting their offspring and most saw them regularly.
Both pieces of research were published in the journal Human Reproduction.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/gZZvX2
The study, by researchers at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, used data from the US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study.
Seventy-eight teenagers were studied, Reuters reports.
A third of the donors knew their offspring, just over a third were permanently anonymous and 18 could be contacted once the child turned 18.
Using questionnaires and interviews, the researchers found no difference in the mental health of teenagers who knew their fathers or did not.
Another study, by the University of Cambridge, interviewed 23 sperm and egg donors who all said they had positive experiences with meeting their offspring and most saw them regularly.
Both pieces of research were published in the journal Human Reproduction.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/gZZvX2
Thursday, 6 January 2011
Online IVF calculator predicts fertility treatment success rates
Web resource based on five years of medical records aims to tell women their likelihood of giving birth with 99% accuracy
Women hoping to have a baby through fertility treatment can from today use an online calculator to show them how likely they are to succeed.
IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) is expensive, only sometimes available on the NHS and less successful than many people think.
To help couples to decide whether IVF is worth pursuing for them, academics at Glasgow and Bristol have created the calculator, which they say will predict a woman's likelihood of giving birth with up to 99% accuracy.
"In the US and the UK, IVF is successful in about a third of women under 35 years old, but in only 5%-10% of women over the age of 40," said Professor Scott Nelson, Muirhead chair of reproductive and maternal medicine at the University of Glasgow.
"However, there are many other factors in addition to age which can alter your chance of success, and clinics don't usually take these into account when counselling couples or women."
The calculator, available for free at www.ivfpredict.com, is based on data from more than 144,000 IVF cycles held by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) – all the outcomes of treatments undergone between 2003 and 2007.
"Essentially, these findings indicate that treatment-specific factors can be used to provide infertile couples with a very accurate assessment of their chance of a successful outcome following IVF," Nelson said.
"It provides critical information on the likely outcome for couples deciding whether to undergo IVF. Up until now, estimates of success have not been reliable.
"The result of this study is a tool which can be used to make incredibly accurate predictions."
To read more go to http://bit.ly/eyUW3w
Women hoping to have a baby through fertility treatment can from today use an online calculator to show them how likely they are to succeed.
IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) is expensive, only sometimes available on the NHS and less successful than many people think.
To help couples to decide whether IVF is worth pursuing for them, academics at Glasgow and Bristol have created the calculator, which they say will predict a woman's likelihood of giving birth with up to 99% accuracy.
"In the US and the UK, IVF is successful in about a third of women under 35 years old, but in only 5%-10% of women over the age of 40," said Professor Scott Nelson, Muirhead chair of reproductive and maternal medicine at the University of Glasgow.
"However, there are many other factors in addition to age which can alter your chance of success, and clinics don't usually take these into account when counselling couples or women."
The calculator, available for free at www.ivfpredict.com, is based on data from more than 144,000 IVF cycles held by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) – all the outcomes of treatments undergone between 2003 and 2007.
"Essentially, these findings indicate that treatment-specific factors can be used to provide infertile couples with a very accurate assessment of their chance of a successful outcome following IVF," Nelson said.
"It provides critical information on the likely outcome for couples deciding whether to undergo IVF. Up until now, estimates of success have not been reliable.
"The result of this study is a tool which can be used to make incredibly accurate predictions."
To read more go to http://bit.ly/eyUW3w
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Intralipid fertility treatment may cut miscarriages and boost pregnancy rates
An experimental fertility treatment increases the odds of an IVF pregnancy up to six times while also inhibiting chemicals which cause miscarriages, a study has found. When women who had gone through IVF time and time again without success were given a soya-based substance, half became pregnant. In contrast, fewer than one in ten of those who had conventional fertility treatment alone conceived.
The doctors behind the remarkable study believe that the Intralipid liquid, a fat and calorie-rich potion normally used when tube-feeding very sick patients, could help many more women achieve their dream of motherhood.
Improving success rates would spare women the emotional and financial pain of going through repeated IVF treatments, only for them to fail. The liquid also stems the production by the body of harmful chemicals which can lead to miscarriage.
George Ndukwe, of the Care fertility clinic in Nottingham, said: ‘Every day in my clinic I see women who have had numerous IVF cycles all with the same negative outcome and no baby. ‘I also regularly see couples who have suffered the misery of repeated miscarriages. ‘People talk about the financial implications but the emotional one is as bad or, I would say, worse. ‘These women are at the bottom of a dark pit and can’t climb out and can’t see the light.
We are devoting our attention to finding answers when nature goes wrong.’ Dr Ndukwe, the clinic’s medical director, believes that up to one in four women who struggle conceiving have faulty immune systems.
It is thought that extra high levels of white blood cells called natural killer cells ‘fight’ the pregnancy by triggering the production of chemicals that attack the placenta or the embryo. The chemicals are already known to trigger rheumatoid arthritis and the arthritis drug Humira has shown promise in boosting pregnancy rates.
However, it costs up to £2,000 per patient and does not work for everyone. At around £200 per woman, Intralipid, which is given through a drip around a week before a woman has IVF, is much cheaper.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/ieus05
The doctors behind the remarkable study believe that the Intralipid liquid, a fat and calorie-rich potion normally used when tube-feeding very sick patients, could help many more women achieve their dream of motherhood.
Improving success rates would spare women the emotional and financial pain of going through repeated IVF treatments, only for them to fail. The liquid also stems the production by the body of harmful chemicals which can lead to miscarriage.
George Ndukwe, of the Care fertility clinic in Nottingham, said: ‘Every day in my clinic I see women who have had numerous IVF cycles all with the same negative outcome and no baby. ‘I also regularly see couples who have suffered the misery of repeated miscarriages. ‘People talk about the financial implications but the emotional one is as bad or, I would say, worse. ‘These women are at the bottom of a dark pit and can’t climb out and can’t see the light.
We are devoting our attention to finding answers when nature goes wrong.’ Dr Ndukwe, the clinic’s medical director, believes that up to one in four women who struggle conceiving have faulty immune systems.
It is thought that extra high levels of white blood cells called natural killer cells ‘fight’ the pregnancy by triggering the production of chemicals that attack the placenta or the embryo. The chemicals are already known to trigger rheumatoid arthritis and the arthritis drug Humira has shown promise in boosting pregnancy rates.
However, it costs up to £2,000 per patient and does not work for everyone. At around £200 per woman, Intralipid, which is given through a drip around a week before a woman has IVF, is much cheaper.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/ieus05
Sunday, 2 January 2011
Barrie and Tony to open 'one-stop-shop' Surrogacy centre in UK
Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow - the first gay couple in Britain to have a baby with a surrogate mother, and who advised Sir Elton John and David Furnish over their new son, Zachary - tell Olga Craig about their newest arrival: a "one-stop-shop" surrogate baby centre which they open in Essex next month
It is a morality tale for our times. To the casual observer, they could have been the conventional Christmas festivities seen in any household – turkey and trimmings, excited children, doting parents and a huge pile of presents under the tree.
But this was anything but a traditional gathering. In the Drewitt-Barlow home, the guest list for last weekend’s laughter-filled Christmas lunch consisted of five children, their two fathers and their four mothers.
In our changing moral climate, in which the traditional nuclear family is becoming increasingly outmoded, such a mix of melded families is far from uncommon.
But this household – a happy one, it must be said – is unique. Seated around the table with gay parents Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow and their children were the two women who donated eggs and the pair who were the surrogates, carrying the children.
The youngsters call Barrie Dad and Tony Daddy and refer to all four women as Mum. They live with their fathers in Essex during term time and spend the holidays in California, where the couple also have a home and where they see their mothers – although none of the women has any legal rights over their offspring.
Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, 42, and his partner Tony, 46, were headline news a decade ago when they became Britain’s first gay surrogate parents.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/ebBT4N
It is a morality tale for our times. To the casual observer, they could have been the conventional Christmas festivities seen in any household – turkey and trimmings, excited children, doting parents and a huge pile of presents under the tree.
But this was anything but a traditional gathering. In the Drewitt-Barlow home, the guest list for last weekend’s laughter-filled Christmas lunch consisted of five children, their two fathers and their four mothers.
In our changing moral climate, in which the traditional nuclear family is becoming increasingly outmoded, such a mix of melded families is far from uncommon.
But this household – a happy one, it must be said – is unique. Seated around the table with gay parents Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow and their children were the two women who donated eggs and the pair who were the surrogates, carrying the children.
The youngsters call Barrie Dad and Tony Daddy and refer to all four women as Mum. They live with their fathers in Essex during term time and spend the holidays in California, where the couple also have a home and where they see their mothers – although none of the women has any legal rights over their offspring.
Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, 42, and his partner Tony, 46, were headline news a decade ago when they became Britain’s first gay surrogate parents.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/ebBT4N
Saturday, 1 January 2011
Secret sperm donor donated sperm to his aunt and lesbian partner
A 15-year old boy secretly donated sperm to his aunt's lesbian partner so they could have children, his parents have discovered.
Charlie Lowden's parents Charles and Lynn are now coming to terms with the fact that the two children they considered to be their nephew and niece are actually their biological grandchildren.
They only discovered the family secret last December after Charlie, 20, died following a routine hernia operation.
After his death it emerged that several years previously he offered to donate sperm - unofficially - to his aunt Sarah Ashman, now 40, who is his mother's younger sister, and her partner Claire, now 30.
He knew they had wanted to have a baby, but Claire had suffered a miscarriage after becoming pregnant by another donor. Claire Ashman, a beautician from Choppington in Northumberland, subsequently gave birth to a boy, Carlton, now five.
Three years later they asked him to donate again, which he did, resulting in Sarah, who is now two.
The lesbian couple agreed to keep Charlie's true identity as the father under wraps. However, his death forced his aunt to confess the situation to her sister.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/h1qhNo
Charlie Lowden's parents Charles and Lynn are now coming to terms with the fact that the two children they considered to be their nephew and niece are actually their biological grandchildren.
They only discovered the family secret last December after Charlie, 20, died following a routine hernia operation.
After his death it emerged that several years previously he offered to donate sperm - unofficially - to his aunt Sarah Ashman, now 40, who is his mother's younger sister, and her partner Claire, now 30.
He knew they had wanted to have a baby, but Claire had suffered a miscarriage after becoming pregnant by another donor. Claire Ashman, a beautician from Choppington in Northumberland, subsequently gave birth to a boy, Carlton, now five.
Three years later they asked him to donate again, which he did, resulting in Sarah, who is now two.
The lesbian couple agreed to keep Charlie's true identity as the father under wraps. However, his death forced his aunt to confess the situation to her sister.
To read more go to http://bit.ly/h1qhNo
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