What you think about donor conception

The Progress Educational Trust (PET)'s project 'When It Takes More Than Two', supported by the Wellcome Trust, sought to clarify public and professional understanding of donor conception by focusing on the different parties involved... [Read More]

Australian IVF doctor not liable for failing to warn about the risk of a hereditary condition

The parents of a child born with a rare blood clotting disorder have lost their legal battle against an IVF doctor for wrongful birth after he failed to warn them of the risks of passing on the hereditary condition... [Read More]

Liverpool fertility clinic imports sperm after fall in donors

A Liverpool fertility clinic has been forced to import sperm from Manchester and London after a significant fall in local donations... [Read More]

The HFEA gets into gear on surrogacy

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) voted on 20 March 2013 to update the guidance it gives to UK fertility clinics on surrogacy. It is a welcome decision that will mean better support for the growing numbers of families created through surrogacy in the UK.... [Read More]

Prolific private sperm donor arrested on charges of sexual assault

A man who claims to have fathered 49 children as a private sperm donor has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault... [Read More]

Book Review: Reproductive Technologies as Global Form - Ethnographies of Knowledge, Practices and Transnational Encounters

Reading 'Reproductive technologies as global form' provides insights into what ethnographers find out about 'national IVF-cultures' during their fieldwork, but it also invites us to engage with theoretical considerations of an academic discipline... [Read More]

Little for donor-conceived people in the Nuffield Council's report

Donor-conceived individuals might justifiably feel short-changed by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics' report 'Donor conception: ethical aspects of information sharing'... [Read More]

Film Review: 2012 International Science and Engineering Visualisation Challenge

Visually gripping and engaging new methods are increasingly used to convey scientific principles and developments to the public. The journal Science and the National Science Foundation annually hold an international competition to recognise the best examples of projects that bring scientific information to life.... [Read More]

Danish study suggests fertility fall-off for sleep-deprived men

A study conducted by the University of Southern Denmark has found evidence that suggests men who do not get enough sleep are likely to be less fertile.... [Read More]

Podcast: Being - The Donor-Conceived Perspective

A podcast produced as part of the When It Takes More Than Two project organised by the Progress Educational Trust... [Read More]

Turkish donor womb recipient becomes pregnant

One of the first women to receive a womb transplant is pregnant, the treating hospital has disclosed. A spokesperson said that early test results were 'consistent' with signs of pregnancy.... [Read More]

Book Review: A Matter of Life - The Story of IVF, A Medical Breakthrough

In the UK, around one in six couples has difficulty conceiving, and it is this desire to have children that drove two awe-inspiring men – Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe – to work together to perfect a technique known as IVF... [Read More]

TV Review: The Only Way is Essex

The Only Way is Essex, commonly known as TOWIE, has moved on from vajazzling (don't ask), love triangles, and weight loss to surrogacy. For those hoping that this subject is treated with respect and sensitivity, you'll be sorely disappointed.... [Read More]

Powdered eggs are 'future of fertility preservation'

An experimental preservation method could let women store eggs at home as a powder and then ‘just add water’ (and sperm) when needed... [Read More]

Sperm quality rises in winter

Human semen quality may rise and fall in seasonal variation, with the best quality being produced in the winter and spring... [Read More]

The mother isn't always certain: Irish surrogacy case leads the way

Once upon a time, motherhood was certain. It was proved by giving birth. The Latin maxim 'mater semper certa est' that told us so was irrefutable. Whether or not that was ever actually true, it has for a long while been biologically, as well as socially, questionable.... [Read More]

Ireland: Genetic mother wins surrogacy case

The Irish High Court has ruled in a landmark case that a woman who is the genetic mother of twins born through a surrogate can be recognised as the legal mother of the children.... [Read More]

US sperm donor sues clinic for using his sperm to impregnate ex-girlfriend

A man from Louisiana is attempting to sue a fertility clinic after accusing his ex-girlfriend of stealing his stored gametes. Layne Hardin has alleged that former partner Tobie Devall 'bluffed' her way into obtaining two vials of his sperm, which she was inseminated with.... [Read More]

Being: The Donor-Conceived Perspective

Another full house for the final event of Progress Educational Trust's 'When it Takes More Than Two' series. This time attendees were invited to consider gamete donation from the perspective of the donor conceived... [Read More]

US sperm and egg donors may be unconsenting contributors to stem cell science

Human embryonic stem cell lines approved for federal funding in the USA, may have been derived from sperm or eggs of unconsenting donors... [Read More]