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Professor Eric Blyth
Eric Blyth is a Volunteer Writer at BioNews, Professor of Social Work at the University of Huddersfield, and Adjunct Professor of Health Ethics at Tung Wah College. He is also Cochair of the Project Group on Assisted Reproduction at the British Association of Social Workers, and International Editorial Adviser at the China Journal of Social Work. He has been a Visiting Professor of Social Work and Social Policy at the University of Alberta, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has also been Editor of the Journal of Fertility Counselling, Coeditor of the British Journal of Social Work, and International Editorial Advisor at International Social Work. Previously, he was a Social Worker at Kent County Council and a Development Officer at Wakefield Metropolitan Council. He is coeditor of Faith and Fertility: Attitudes Towards Reproductive Practices in Different Religions from Ancient to Modern Times (buy this book from Amazon UK or Amazon USA) and Third Party Assisted Conception Across Cultures: Social, Legal and Ethical Perspectives (buy this book from Amazon UK or Amazon USA).
BioNews Comment articles written by Professor Eric Blyth:
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One Parent or Five – more of the same from the Commission on Parenthood's Future |
| 31 October 2011 - by |
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'One Parent or Five: A global look at today's new intentional families' is the latest report from the Commission on Parenthood's Future (1). Authored by 'scholar Elizabeth Marquardt, a recognized family expert', it claims to offer 'the first-ever systematic critique of the concept of intentional parenthood [by] providing a global tour of today's new intentional families...[Read More] |
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| 11 July 2011 - by |
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It is not so long since I applauded the decision of the Supreme Court of British Columbia (BC) for promoting the disclosure of the identity of gamete and embryo donors to their offspring [1]. News that the BC Attorney-General is appealing the judgment to the federal Supreme Court indicates that my enthusiasm was a case of premature elation [2]. The good news for those of us who believe that non-anonymous donation is the only ethical form of gamete and embryo donation is that if the federal Su...[Read More] |
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| 03 May 2011 - by |
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During its 20-year history, the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has notched up significant achievements in the regulation of assisted human reproduction that have rightly drawn respect worldwide. An important characteristic of the HFEA's approach to regulation has been its use of public consultations to inform policy development...[Read More] |
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| 06 December 2010 - by |
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Australia has been a noted pacemaker in the field of assisted reproduction. It was the first nation to report embryo relinquishment for family-building, and a pregnancy and live birth from a previously cryopreserved human embryo. The Australian state of Victoria was among the world's first jurisdictions to remove the rights of gamete and embryo donors to remain anonymous...[Read More] |
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| 29 October 2010 - by |
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As reported in BioNews on 25 October 2010 (1), Olivia Pratten, a 28-year old Toronto journalist who was conceived as a result of anonymous donor conception provided by a Vancouver physician, Dr Gerald Korn, is challenging the protection of donor anonymity in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The Court agreed to hear the case despite claims made in September by lawyers acting for the Government of British Columbia that the physician's records have been destroyed, and despite an injunction...[Read More] |
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| 14 June 2010 - by |
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Unlike either oocyte or embryo donation, sperm donation presents a massive PR problem - masturbation. At least since Onan came to a sticky end, masturbation (aka 'self-abuse') has both suffered censure and has provided a fertile source for low-grade humour....[Read More] |
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| 13 April 2010 - by |
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The Bridge Centre's plea to 'think again' about arrangements for gamete donation in the UK takes yet another ill-founded and unsubstantiated swipe at the lifting of donor anonymity and its impact on donor services. The Bridge Centre also indicts the removal of anonymity, together with donor compensation arrangements, as responsible for the 'explosive growth of fertility tourism'....[Read More] |
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| 18 May 2009 - by |
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What we currently know about cross-border reproductive services derives primarily from anecdotal patient accounts shared on the Internet and reports provided by journalists - often working 'undercover' and posing as patients. The nefarious character of some services under investigation, alleging illegal activities (1,2) and exploitation of young women as egg donors...[Read More] |
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| 09 March 2009 - by |
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One of the first publicly-recorded actions of the HFEA's apparently ironically-named 'Opening the Register' (OTR) Working Group has in fact been to recommend reversal of the HFEA's current policy of disclosing gamete donor codes to patients and to 'strongly advise' centres to follow its lead (1). Neither of the Human...[Read More] |
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Donor conception and birth certificates - more steps in the right direction |
| 19 May 2008 - by |
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A springboard for revisiting the role that birth certificates might play in facilitating the ability of a donor-conceived person to access information about their genetic and biographical history (a proposal initially mooted by the Warnock Committee, but never acted on, in 1984) (1), was provided by the joint committee of...[Read More] |
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