TV Review: Having a baby to save my child

I think the producers of this emotive BBC One documentary sought to challenge criticisms of saviour siblings by presenting the heartbreaking, desperate struggle that two couples face in their battle against time to create the miracle baby that will save their child's life... [Read More]

Licensing 'saviour siblings': Why the HFEA is right

Two recent Bionews commentaries have considered the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority's (HFEA) review of the case-case approach to licensing PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis) for late-onset disorders and the use of pre-implantation tissue-typing (PITT) for the creation of 'saviour siblings'. This article considers further, some of the underlying reasons why the HFEA approach to case-by-case licensing of PITT is justified....[Read More]

'Embryo destroyed' stories came from nowhere

Newspaper stories claiming that fertility regulators in the UK have allowed embryos to be destroyed for 'minor disorders' are unrelated to decisions taken at a recent regulatory meeting. Stories last week said the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) had allowed doctors to routinely screen out more than 100 genetic disorders using PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis). But, according to HFEA sources, the list of genetic disorders approved for PGD...[Read More]

The case for case-by-case regulation of PGD: a response to Dr David King

The Genetic Interest Group (GIG) welcomed the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)’s review of the case-by-case approach to the licensing of PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis) for late-onset conditions and for tissue typing of embryos to produce a 'saviour sibling'. I attended the HFEA's consultation event at which Dr David King spoke on 1 December last year and heard his presentation. Then, as in the BioNews comment piece ...[Read More]

Correction: HFEA publishes a Grade A Incident report

Last week BioNews reported that the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) had for the first time decided to publish its report and the Licence Committee minutes relating to Grade A incidents, two of which occurred earlier last year at Guy's Hospital Assisted Conception Unit (ACU). It has been brought to our attention that there were a number of inaccuracies in this article. The corrected version of the article is published below:...[Read More]

The case for case-by-case regulation of PGD

On 20 January, the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will decide whether to continue the case-by-case regulation of two types of PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis) applications: those for late onset conditions and tissue typing of embryos to produce a 'saviour sibling'....[Read More]

Study shows preimplantation screening is safe for singletons

The first large-scale study of genetic screening of embryos before implantation, published in January's issue of the journal Human Reproduction, has shown that the procedures used are safe for children born in single pregnancies....[Read More]

Film Festival Review: 'Eugenics: Science Fiction or Future Reality?'

The Edinburgh Filmhouse ran its fifth Biomedical Ethics Film Festival from 20-22 November 2009 in partnership with the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics (SHCB), the British Science Association and the ESRC Genomics Forum at Edinburgh University. Its theme was 'Eugenics: Science Fiction or Future Reality?' and its format was film showings followed by comments from a panel leading off a general discussion with the audience. The first day's major film was 'Homo Sapiens 1990', a documentary on ...[Read More]

Book Review: Born and Made

Born and Made - An Ethnography of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis...[Read More]

A new era for the HFEA

When it comes into force on 1 October the new Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Act will herald the single greatest change to affect the UK fertility sector in nearly two decades, since we - the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) - came into being as the UK regulator....[Read More]

Is cross-border reproductive care a problem, and for whom?

As a clinician based in the UK, one cannot fail to be aware that some patients seek fertility treatments abroad. Until now we only had newspaper headlines or anecdotal evidence, but having presented the results of the first European study in Amsterdam at the annual ESHRE conference (1), we may now base our reflections on some facts, even if selected by the voluntary nature of participating colleagues and centres abroad....[Read More]

Genetic testing of children prior to adoption

Recently, a new angle to the many and varied debates over predictive genetic testing has emerged. A number of clinical geneticists in the UK have been requested to undertake genetic tests on children who are up for adoption. When advised that these tests were not in the interests of the children concerned, several local authorities obtained court orders enforcing the tests....[Read More]

Film review: My Sister's Keeper

'My Sister's Keeper' is based on a book by the author Jodi Picoult. The youngest daughter of the Fitzgerald family, Anna (Abigail Breslin), decides to sue her parents for the ‘medical emancipation’ of her own body. Having been conceived through IVF and the resulting embryo tissue typed to ensure it was a match for her sick existing sibling, Anna was born for the primary reason of keeping her older sister, Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), a leukaemia patient, alive....[Read More]