Progress Educational Trust conference - Cross-border reproduction: Who oversees overseas?

In a cold room on a Wednesday afternoon within the Institute of Child Health in London, talk turned to warmer climes during session two of the Progress Educational Trust (PET)'s annual conference. Even though the temperature of the room was cold, the debate surrounding who does (and should) oversee overseas cross-border reproductive care 'hotted up'...[Read More]

Book Review: The Two Week Wait

As I sit at my computer on this glorious Sunday morning to write this review, I suddenly realise the coincidence of the day: it is Mother's Day. Today of all days it seems very apt to be writing a review of Sarah Rayner's novel about two women and their quest to become mothers....[Read More]

Podcast Review: Expert Explanations - Evolutionary Genetics/Genetics

The Pulse-Project is a website which offers a wide range of freely accessible audio and video lectures on the sciences and medical humanities...[Read More]

Book Review: Human Dignity in Bioethics and Law

I was slightly sceptical when I read the back cover description of Charles Foster's book, 'Human Dignity in Bioethics and Law'. It seemed to be promising so much, namely that Foster was set to challenge the very basis of my bioethical understanding by arguing an alternative to the four principles of Beauchamp and Childress. It was with trepidation that I opened the front cover....[Read More]

TV Review: Donor (episode of Moving On)

'All I want is some bodily fluids, are you really going to begrudge me that?' - 'Donor', the third episode in BBC One's contemporary daytime drama series 'Moving On' tackled issues of infertility, sperm donation, parenthood and the societal expectation on women to become mothers...[Read More]

Film Review: Made in India

The feature-length documentary 'Made in India' tackles cross-border surrogacy head-on by going beyond the sensational headlines to uncover for the first time the personal lives and choices of the surrogates and infertile people involved. The film follows an American couple, Lisa and Brian Switzer, on their quest to have a baby...[Read More]

Film Review: Never Let Me Go

Starring Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield and Keira Knightley, Never Let Me Go is the film adaptation of the Booker Prize-nominated novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. The film is narrated by Kathy H (Carey Mulligan) who begins by reminiscing about her childhood at Halisham, a school for 'special pupils'. The audience is taken on a journey with Kathy as she remembers her experiences at Hailsham and her life after she leaves the school...[Read More]

Should babies conceived after dad's death get benefits?

Last week, the US Supreme Court were still wrestling with the application of a 1930s law to the case of the twins born by IVF 18 months after their father died of cancer...[Read More]

Personalised care one step closer as Mayo Clinic sequences patients' genomes

Personalised healthcare could be one step closer this year, as doctors from the prestigious US Mayo Clinic embark on a project to sequence the full genetic code of thousands of people...[Read More]

Should IVF children in the US conceived after a parent's death receive benefits?

The US Supreme Court will decide whether children conceived through IVF after the death of their biological father are entitled to receive survivor benefits - general welfare benefits paid by the state designed to replace the lost support of a deceased wage earner....[Read More]

An embryo is not a person say Mississippi voters

Voters in the US state of Mississippi have voted against a proposed constitutional amendment that would have defined life as beginning at fertilisation. The proposed amendment would have afforded embryos and fetuses – whether conceived naturally or artificially - similar legal protection as that covering all US citizens but was rejected by over 55 per cent of voters on 8 November...[Read More]