Posts Tagged ‘law’
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
Sir Nicholas Wall, the President of the High Court Family Division, has made public his decision to give parenthood to the British parents of twins born through surrogacy in India. The President said the issues were of “considerable public importance” and he wished to endorse the previous judgments of Mr Justice Hedley in other similar cases.
The decision, from one of the UK’s most senior family judges, represents a bolstering of the UK court’s position on international surrogacy: that although commercially organised surrogacy is not yet permitted in the UK, British parents can be awarded parenthood if they go abroad and pay a foreign surrogate mother more than her ‘reasonable expenses’. Sir Nicholas Wall made clear that the court’s paramount consideration is the child’s welfare, and that a birth certificate will be given as long as there has been no exploitation and the parents are not circumventing child protection laws in the UK.
In this particular case, two Indian surrogate mothers (carrying embryos created with the intended father’s sperm and eggs from the same anonymous donor) gave birth to a boy and a girl within a few days of each other, following a surrogacy arrangement commissioned by a British couple. A total of some £27,000 was paid to the Indian clinic. The court was ultimately satisfied that the parents were “entirely genuine and straightforward” and that “it is plainly in the interests of these two children that they should brought up by Mr and Mrs A as their parents”.
The case follows similar decisions by Mr Justice Hedley in the cases of Re X and Y (2008) in which British parents paid £23,000 to a Ukrainian surrogate mother, Re S (2009) involving a Californian surrogacy arrangement, Re L (2010) involving a surrogate mother based in Illinois and Re IJ (2011) involving a Ukrainian surrogacy.
For further information you can read the judgment in full or see our international surrogacy law pages.
Tags: Californian surrogacy, commercial surrogacy, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment, gay men conception, gay surrogacy law, Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, law, Natalie Gamble, surrogacy agreements, surrogacy law
Posted in family building, fertility law, gay men surrogacy, international surrogacy, Natalie Gamble Associates news, same sex parenting, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Monday, October 31st, 2011
Natalie and Helen were delighted to attend the American Bar Association’s Family and Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) conference in Las Vegas (26-29 October 2011). The conference brought together the world’s leading experts in assisted reproduction and surrogacy law, with lawyers from many US states (where laws vary enormously), Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, the Ukraine, India, Brazil and Greece. Natalie was invited to speak about English law at a packed session, and was proud to represent the UK alongside leading fertility law experts from Germany, Italy, Australia and Canada.
The ABA conference comes at a key time, with the Hague Conference putting surrogacy on its agenda for international regulation, as well as increasing numbers of clients crossing borders for surrogacy and ART. We were thrilled to meet so many professionals who, like us, understand and care passionately about helping people build families successfully. It was abundantly clear that surrogacy lawyers across the globe need to play a key role, both in helping parents get the best legal protection and recognition possible (while national laws are so disastrously mismatched), and in advocating more widely at an international level as a voice for those conceiving in alternative ways.
Thank you to the American Bar Association for hosting such an inspiring international conference, which we know will be just the first step in building a strong international community of advocates for alternative families.
More information about international surrogacy law is available on our website and in particular check out our area for non-UK advisors and US attorneys.
Tags: Californian surrogacy, commercial surrogacy, donor conception law, embryo law, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment, gay men conception, gay parenting, gay surrogacy law, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, IVF, law, Natalie Gamble, sperm donation law, surrogacy law
Posted in donor conception, family building, fertility law, gay men surrogacy, international surrogacy, Natalie Gamble, Natalie Gamble Associates news, same sex parenting, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Thursday, October 20th, 2011
The HFEA announced yesterday that, after an extensive public consultation and review, the system for paying egg and sperm donors in the UK is changing. Instead of donors being paid out of pocket expenses plus an allowance for loss of earnings of up to £250, egg donors will now be paid a blanket £750 per cycle, and sperm donors £35 per visit.
There was much discussion yesterday about the new payment to egg donors of £750 and whether this would encourage women to donate eggs for the money who wouldn’t otherwise have done so.
However, if we understand the HFEA’s press release correctly, this seems to be a bit of a misunderstanding. The new figure of £750 does not seem to be an increase on the existing £250 cap, but rather a change of how the system works. Women used to be able to claim their actual (unlimited) out of pocket expenses plus an allowance of £250 to represent (nominally) loss of earnings. They can now claim £750 to cover everything, no matter what their actual expenses are. In practice we know that expenses during an egg donation process can mount up very quickly, covering things like travel, drugs, the cost of scans and blood tests at a local hospital, childcare and time off work for consultations, counselling, scans and egg collection. It’s not an easy or an inexpensive process. The HFEA’s new rule therefore may not mean more money for donors, just a simpler way of dealing with expenses. We think the change is less significant than it sounds, and will make little difference to donors or recipients in practice.
However, if nothing else, we hope that all this discussion about donation in the media will encourage donors to come forward. Working with both donors and recipients, we know how much the donation process involves and we know what a life changing difference donation makes to people’s lives. We salute all the donors in the UK who go through this to help others become families and we hope they know how very much they are appreciated.
There is more information about donation in the UK on our website.
Tags: donor conception, donor conception law, donor insemination, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment, HFEA donation review, IVF, law, Natalie Gamble, sperm donation law, sperm donor law
Posted in donor conception, fertility law | Comments Off
Thursday, September 29th, 2011
Today’s news about the diminishing numbers of babies being adopted in the UK does not at all surprise us. The BBC has today reported that only 60 children under one were adopted in the UK last year, of the 3,500 currently in the care system. This marks a significant drop from the 150 adoptions of children under one completed in 2007. The drop indicates that the barriers to authorising prospective adopters and to releasing children for adoption seem to be increasing and the process taking longer. Ann Marie Carrie of Barnado’s has said: “This is a tragedy, it’s a tragedy for the children who are languishing in the care system and frankly it’s a tragedy for those people who have come forward who want to be parents and adopt a child.”
None of this comes as much of a surprise to the many frustrated clients we hear from daily who have considered adoption but instead turned to surrogacy as a means of building their family. Again and again we hear that prospective parents have been actively discouraged from pursuing adoption or told that the process will take many years with no certain outcome. Parents with an existing child are often told they are only eligible to adopt if there is an age gap of several years between siblings, which in practice rules out adoption entirely (depending on the parents ages) given that so few young children are available. Again and again we hear that couples who are unable to conceive as a result of infertility or other medical problems, and same sex parents wanting to build a family, would love to offer a home to a child who needs it, but find that adoption simply is not an option for them. Many of these couples go on to be fantastic parents to their own biological children conceived through fertility treatment or surrogacy. They could have been fantastic adoptive parents to children who desperately need their care.
Tags: adoption, fertility treatment, IVF, law, UK surrogacy
Posted in adoption, fertility law, international surrogacy, same sex parenting, UK surrogacy | Comments Off
Friday, November 26th, 2010
We have had an article published in leading legal journal Family Law about the case of T v B recently heard in the High Court. The case involved a lesbian couple in dispute following a split, and the court found that the non birth mother was not a ‘parent’ under English law and so not financially responsible for her child. Our article reviews the case and its implications for same sex parenting.
You can read the article in full at Lesbian mothers in dispute: T v B (Family Law, November 2010) or find out more from our website about lesbian parenting law.
Tags: law, lesbian parenting dispute, same sex parenting, T v B
Posted in donor conception, fertility law, lesbian parenting, Natalie Gamble, Natalie Gamble Associates news, same sex parenting | Comments Off
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
We have worked with leading gay rights organisation Stonewall to produce a guide to the new laws on gay and lesbian parenting, called Parenthood for Same Sex Couples. Funded by the Big Lottery Fund, the guide aims to provide clear information to service providers about the law on same sex conception and parenting, including donor insemination (and the new legal rights for lesbian couples to be named on birth certificates), co-parenting arrangements, and UK and international surrogacy for gay men. The guide will be distributed to key service providers nationally (including law centres) and is available on the Stonewall website.
We are delighted to have helped with this project, as we think it is vitally important for there to be good and widespread understanding of the UK’s new fertility laws which rightly recognise gay and lesbian couples as parents of children they conceive together.
Read ‘Parenthood for Same Sex Couples’.
More information on gay surrogacy law from our website.
More information on donor insemination and co-parenting law from our website.
More information about our public service work and fertility law services to charities.
Tags: Co-parenting, donor insemination, fertility law, gay, law, legal, lesbian, Stonewall, UK surrogacy
Posted in Co-parenting, donor conception, fertility law, gay men surrogacy, international surrogacy, lesbian parenting, Natalie Gamble Associates news, UK surrogacy | Comments Off
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
We welcome the Department of Health’s announcement today that embryos which exceed their five year storage period before 1 October 2009 will not now have to be destroyed (article in the Times today).
We have been in contact with the Department of Health on this issue for some time, arguing the case for various couples who are fighting to save their embryos because they were stored too early to benefit from new rules coming into force on 1 October. These couples include Melanie and Robert Gladwin from Gloucester, who stored embryos in anticipation of Melanie’s treatment for cancer in 2003 in order to preserve their chance of having a family, but who were told their embryos would be allowed to perish because their storage period expires before 1 October. Robert and Melanie’s story was reported in the Daily Telegraph on 7 August and is covered again today in response to the government’s announcement. Robert and Melanie, who have been fighting to save their embryos, have won political support for their campaign and yesterday were invited to present a petition at 10 Downing Street. They are not the only couple to fall into this gap in the law. Michelle Hickman has also been a vocal campaigner on this issue for several years, and there may be many other couples who are affected.
In response to today’s decision that such ‘out of time’ embryos can now be stored for at least ten years, Melanie Gladwin has said: “We are ecstatic at the news from the Department of Health. It has been a tiresome and stressful time and are extremely thankful they have been able to consider our case so promptly. We eagerly await further news that we can keep our embryos for the full period. We hope this announcement brings joy to the other couples and families affected like us.”
Natalie Gamble, representing Robert and Melanie, says: “While the announcement today gives much needed hope to men and women whose precious embryos have already reached the end of their five year storage term, we need to make sure that the proposed changes go far enough to give the time needed. For young women who suffer infertility prematurely, these embryos in storage often represent their last chance of having a child of their own. We will be looking very closely at the proposals to confirm that couples like Robert and Melanie will be able to extend their chance of having a much-wanted child for as long as possible, and not just for a few more years.”
Further note to this blog on 11 September 2009:
We are also now delighted to report that the Department of Health has now confirmed that, after the publication of the Minister’s Order, additional special regulations will be made to ensure that ‘out of time’ embryos like Robert and Melanie’s will be able to be stored, not just for ten years, but for the full extended period normally allowed for these kinds of medical situations.
More information on embryo storage law is on our website.
Tags: embryo storage, fertility law, law, Melanie Gladwin, Natalie Gamble, regulations, UK surrogacy
Posted in embryo storage law, fertility law, Natalie Gamble, Natalie Gamble Associates news, UK surrogacy | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
Stonewall has launched a beautifully illustrated new publication for lesbians who are thinking of starting a family. Called Pregnant Pause, it gives a wealth of up to date information on the different options available to lesbian parents, including NHS funded fertility treatment, private treatment, home insemination with a known donor and co-parenting, and covers the legal and practical issues. The guide was put together to celebrate the new rights for lesbian parents introduced by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 which came into force on 6 April 2009, with the aim of giving accurate information to couples thinking of starting a family through donor conception.
We are proud to have been involved in the project, contributing the legal information included in the guide, which we hope will be useful to many prospective parents.
Read ‘Pregnant Pause: a guide for lesbians on how to get pregnant’ or request a free printed copy from Stonewall (info@stonewall.org.uk or 08000 50 20 20).
More information on the law for lesbian couples conceiving together from our website.
Tags: fertility law, guide to getting pregnant, law, lesbian, Stonewall
Posted in Co-parenting, donor conception, lesbian parenting, Natalie Gamble Associates news | Comments Off
Sir Nicholas Wall, the President of the High Court Family Division, has made public his decision to give parenthood to the British parents of twins born through surrogacy in India. The President said the issues were of “considerable public importance” and he wished to endorse the previous judgments of Mr Justice Hedley in other similar cases.
