No uterus, Surrogacy, Surrogate Mother, UK

UK – Woman born without a womb to finally become a mum after workmate makes incredible offer to be surrogate

Source: Daily Record

Proud parents-to-be Natasha and Peter with the scan of their new baby (Image: Daily Record)

Natasha Hutcheon and her childhood sweetheart will finally become parents after colleague Katie Beardal agreed to be their surrogate.

It was a dream they feared would never be realised after a series of heartbreaking setbacks.

But now a couple will finally become parents after a work colleague agreed to be a surrogate mum.

Natasha Hutcheon and childhood sweetheart Peter Walker, both 31, have dreamed of having a baby together since they met as teenagers.

They thought their hopes were dashed when Natasha discovered she was unable to have children.

Now, after 89 hospital visits and two miscarriages in eight years, Natasha’s co-worker Katie Beardal is expecting their baby in September.

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donor sperm, intended parents, Parental rights, Same Sex, Sperm Donation

The Continuing Legal Evolution of the Concepts of ‘Parent’ and ‘Child’

Source: New York Law Journal

Alton L. Abramowitz

On Jan. 25, 2018, the Appellate Division, Third Department, issued a significant decision in Matter of Christopher YY v. Jessica ZZ, 2018 NY Slip Op 00495. Underlying the court’s determination is the conundrum which it describes as follows: “Application of existing case law involving different-gender spouses, addressing whether the presumption [of legitimacy] has been rebutted, to a child born to a same-gender married couple is inherently problematic, as it is not currently scientifically possible for same-gender couples to produce a child that is biologically ‘the product of the marriage’ [citations omitted].”

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intended parents, Surrogacy, surrogate children, Surrogate Mother

International – Children risk being “commodities” as surrogacy spreads

Source: Scoop World

Children risk being “commodities” as surrogacy spreads, UN rights expert warns

GENEVA (6 March 2018) – Children face becoming commodities as surrogacy arrangements become more prevalent, and urgent action is needed to protect their rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children has warned.

“There is no right to have a child under international law,” said Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, who presented a report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. “Children are not goods or services that the State can guarantee or provide. They are human beings with rights.

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intended parents, Surrogacy, surrogate children, Surrogate Mother

UK government: Parents should tell their surrogate children about their birth

Source: BioEdge

The UK’s Department for Health and Social Care has released new guidelines advising that children born via surrogacy be told of their origins.

The guidelines, released last Wednesday, are intended to “ensure LGBTQ+ individuals are given equal care, and that all surrogates and intended parents are treated with due dignity and respect”. The document states:

Research suggests that openness, confidence and transparency about a child’s origins from an early age (pre-school) is the best way to talk to children about their identity and origins. Your fertility counsellor should have given you the opportunity to explore how you feel about telling a child about their origins, and fertility counsellors would be happy to help you reach a decision about this at any time, as your thoughts and feelings about if, when and how to do this may change over time.

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Gay Parenting, Gestational surrogacy, intended parents, Same Sex, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Fertility options for the LGBT community

Source: Out In Jersey

Dr. Dan Kaser at RMANJ

LGBT people have gradually stepped out from shadows over the last 50 years, not only transforming our own lives, but those of our families and communities. A generation or two ago, the children we raised were born of previous heterosexual relationships. This began to change in the 1970s and ‘80s, aided by helpful court rulings that reflected cultural sea change in attitudes toward gay people in general. In 1997, New Jersey became the first state to allow same-sex couples to adopt jointly.

Adoption, artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization and surrogacy are now viable avenues available for LGBT individuals and couples. Ultimately, the choice of how to build your family (adoption vs. fertility treatment) is a personal decision based on many factors. Those who seek help from assisted reproductive technologies want to have children with whom they share a genetic connection. What is this path like?

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compensation, intended parents, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother, UK

UK – First surrogacy guidelines for England and Wales released

Source BioNews

Appeared in BioNews 940

Government guidance has been issued for couples considering surrogacy in England and Wales, for the first time.

Two sets of guidelines have been released, one for surrogates and intended parents, and the other for healthcare professionals working with them.

Couples planning to enter into an agreement with a surrogate are recommended to use written agreements covering conception, expenses and any planned relationship between the surrogate and the child. They are also encouraged to use established surrogacy organisations in the UK to find a surrogate, rather than travelling abroad to clinics or using informal arrangements.

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intended parents, Surrogacy, Surrogate Mother

India – Sunny Leone welcomes sons via surrogacy

Source: Gulf News

Actress Sunny Leone on Monday surprised everyone by announcing the birth of her sons Noah and Asher via surrogacy.

She had adopted a girl, Nisha, in 2017.

Leone took to Twitter to post a picture of herself along with husband Daniel Weber and their three children.

Leone captioned it: “God’s plan! June 21st, 2017 was the day Daniel and I found out that we might possibly be having three children within a short amount of time. We planned and tried to have a family and after so many years [our] family is now complete with Asher Singh Weber, Noah Singh Weber and Nisha Kaur Weber.”

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Genetic parent, Gestational parent, intended parents

What is a parent? How policy shapes the definition of parenthood

Source Baylor College of Medicine Blog

The LA Times recently reported on a same-sex married couple who sought U.S. passports for their two children. Of the two fathers, one was born and raised in the United States while the other was born in Israel.

The couple lives in Canada, and the Israel-born partner has yet to obtain U.S. citizenship. They hired a gestational surrogate, used donor eggs and sperm from both men, and had two sons in one pregnancy, born in Canada. When they applied for U.S. citizenship for their children, they encountered a curious problem: only one child could become a U.S. citizen.

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Australia, Embryo, Gestational surrogacy, Infertility, intended parents, IVF, Surrogacy, Surrogate Mother

Australia – Surrogacy success for Hunter family with new baby after years of heartache, IVF, and two surrogates.

Source: Newcastle Herald

Priceless: Kristy and Craig Darken with baby Henry, born via a surrogate. Kristy described the process as akin to having all of the ingredients to make a cake, but baking it in someone else’s oven. Picture: Kelsey Mlekus Photography

BY the time Kristy and Craig Darken found out they were going to be parents, they had almost given up all hope of holding a child of their own in their arms.

It had been close to eight years of highs and lows, of hope and of devastation, as the Elermore Vale couple trod the testing track of having a baby via a surrogate.

But then, countless counselling sessions, IVF, two surrogates and 10 embryos later, a tearful late night phone call came from Kristy’s sister, Rebecca.

“She was crying her eyes out,” Kristy said.

“I thought she was crying because she knew it was our last try. I thought she was devastated. Then finally, she said, ‘I’m pregnant. It worked’.

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Egg Donation, intended parents

6 Important Factors in Selecting an Egg Donor

Source: WINFERTILITY

What Matters Most to You

Making the decision to use donor eggs in IVF is often not easy. If you’ve had failed IVF cycles using your own eggs or been told you have insufficient ovarian reserve for IVF, you and your partner may need time to grieve before moving on to donor eggs. Once you are ready, however, donor eggs are a kind of miracle. Eggs from young, healthy donors make it possible for women even of advanced maternal age to get pregnant and have a healthy baby at about the same IVF success rates as younger women, as high as 50 percent or more. Those celebrities having babies well after age 40 are most likely using donor eggs. When you and your partner are ready, these six factors can help you select an egg donor who’s right for you.

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Donor Eggs, Egg Donor, Europe, Gestational surrogacy, intended parents, IVF, Sperm Donor, Surrogacy, Surrogate Mother

Fertty International: Study Reveals Americans Opting for Assisted Reproductive Treatment Abroad

Source: Cision PR Newswire

The high cost of assisted reproductive treatment in North America is forcing many US citizens to look to other countries for high-quality medical care at a lower cost.

Fertty International. A modern clinic, for new models of the family (PRNewsfoto/Fertty International)

In 2016, nearly 1.4 million Americans travelled outside the U.S. in search of medical treatment, compared to 750,000 in 2008. Currently, medical tourism, or cross border reproductive care as the media have labelled it, is rising by 25% per year.

The primary reasons for these trips, according to a study conducted by the Task Force on Ethics and Law from the ESHRE, and published in the scientific journal Human Reproduction (Shenfield et al. 2010), is the difficulty in accessing certain treatments due to legal restrictions, long waiting lists, and thirdly, the search for high-quality reproductive treatment.

The main countries hosting these medical tourists in Europe are Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Switzerland, Slovenia and Spain. The fact that the latter has the most permissive legislation in terms of assisted reproduction, together with the European regulations on mobilisation of biological samples, and high medical and technical quality make Spain the top destination. It is also the country with the most egg donations.

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Employee Benefits, India, intended parents, Law, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Tribunal grants maternity leave to govt. servant who begot children through surrogacy

Source: The Hindu

Soibam Rocky Singh

The Central Administrative Tribunal has come to the aid of a woman, working in the Ministry of Law & Justice, who was denied maternity leave as she had begotten her children through surrogacy.

The Tribunal directed the Ministry to sanction 180 days of maternity leave to the woman citing three high court’s verdicts which have held that the commissioning mother is also entitled for grant of maternity leave.

The woman is working as a Personal Assistant in the Legislative Department, Official Language Wing of Ministry of Law & Justice. As she was unable to conceive due to medical issues, she entered into Gestational Surrogacy Agreement with another woman.

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Donor Eggs, donor sperm, intended parents

Fertility Services Market Grow With $30,964 million by 2023

Source: openPR

Fertility services are treatments, which aid in treating infertility in patients. In vitro fertilization (IVF), surrogacy, artificial insemination, and others are different forms of infertility services, which assists couples with infertility problems, single mothers, and the LGBT community to procreate. The global fertility services market was valued at $16,761 million in 2016, and is estimated to reach at $30,964 million by 2023, registering a CAGR of 9.3% from 2017 to 2023.

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Donor Eggs, IVF Treatment, Sperm Donor, Surrogacy, Surrogate Mother

Women seeking cheap fertility treatment abroad

Source:  The Times

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Women travelled for conventional IVF treatments, egg donation and surrogacy services SEBASTIAN KAULITZKI/GETTY IMAGES

More than 3,000 women travel abroad for cheap assisted human reproduction treatments every year, a leading fertility doctor has estimated.

Dr John Kennedy, medical director of Virtus Health, the largest provider of fertility services in Ireland, said the figure included those who travelled to get conventional IVF treatments, egg donation and surrogacy services.

He said it was difficult to get exact figures because some women travelled without informing their fertility doctors, but that 3,000 was a reasonable estimate. The average cost of a cycle of IVF in Ireland is between €5,000 and €7,000, but can cost less than €3,000 in some eastern European countries. Dr Kennedy said these countries were always going to be cheaper, but there could be differences in quality of care.

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Donor Eggs, Donor Embryos, donor sperm

Ireland – Some fertility clinics ‘exploiting couples with unnecessary tests’

Source: Irish Independent News

Couples who are undergoing fertility treatment in some clinics are being “financially exploited” and having additional investigations that are not necessary, the Oireachtas health committee was told yesterday.

Dr John Waterstone of the Irish Fertility Society said the proposed Government legislation on assisted reproduction should outlaw this.

He said people who are trying to have a baby can end up spending thousands of euro more on these procedures, which will not improve their chances of success.

He was appearing with other fertility experts before the committee to discuss the proposed legislation.

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intended parents, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Republican lawmakers enraged by passage of ‘The Uniform Parenting Act’

Source: Clark County Today

Senate Bill 6037 allows for paid surrogacy in the state of Washington

Sometimes I have the pleasure of telling you a story and sometimes the story just tells itself.

It’s safe to say a number of area lawmakers have had some tough days during the current legislative session in Olympia but the past 24 hours just might have been the toughest for Reps. Liz Pike (R — 18th District) and Vicki Kraft (R — 17th District) and others.

Pike, Kraft and their fellow lawmakers were on the floor of the house until after midnight in the a.m. hours of Wednesday. I spoke with Kraft by telephone this morning and I believe she told me that she was still testifying on the floor of the House of Representatives after midnight.

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intended parents, Ireland, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Ireland – Fertility expert: Surrogacy plans too restrictive

Source: Irish Examiner

A fertility expert has warned that plans to permit surrogacy in Ireland are too restrictive and that people would continue to seek surrogacy abroad even though it remains a grey area.

Consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Mary Wingfield said the legal situation of those who employed surrogate mothers abroad should have been addressed in the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill.

Prof Wingfield was one of three fertility experts to discuss the proposed legislation at a meeting of the joint committee on health yesterday.

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Gestational carrier agreements, intended parents, Surrogacy, Surrogacy Law, Surrogate Mother

Tell children created through surrogacy how they were born, says first-ever Government guidance

Source: The Telegraph

Parents are also warned not to enter into informal surrogacy arrangements but to use a surrogacy organisation to arrange the process, and advised not to go abroad but to use licensed clinics in the UK. CREDIT: DAVID JONES /PA

Children created through surrogacy should be told how they were born, the Government has said for the first time.

The first-ever official guidance for surrogacy arrangements says that “openness, confidence and transparency about a child’s origins from an early age (pre-school) is the best way to talk to children about their identity and origins”.

Parents are also warned not to enter into informal surrogacy arrangements but to use a surrogacy organisation to arrange the process, and advised not to go abroad but to use licensed clinics in the UK.

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Divorce, intended parents, Law, Same Sex, Surrogacy Law

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Tucson woman’s argument in gay marriage, child custody matter

Source: Tuscan.com

The U.S. Supreme Court this morning rejected a bid by a Tucson woman arguing that gay marriages are not legally the same as others, at least when it comes to divorce.

Without comment the justices rejected a bid by Kimberly McLaughlin to deny shared custody of her biological child with Suzan McLaughlin, who she was legally married to at the time of the child’s birth.

Keith Berkshire, Kimberly McLaughlin’s attorney, acknowledged to the justices that two prior rulings had said that all marriages are entitled to the same benefits.

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Gay Parenting, Gestational surrogacy, Hysterectomy, Infertility, intended parents, Same Sex, Surrogacy, Surrogate Mother

Using a Surrogate

Source: WINFertility

What You Need to Know

There are several reasons to consider using a surrogate to bear your child. Male same-sex couples who want to have a biological child often use a surrogate. Some women are unable to carry and bear a child due to cancer treatment, genetic conditions, having had a hysterectomy, or medical conditions that make it dangerous for them to get pregnant. Sometimes couples use a surrogate when other fertility treatments have not been successful for them or there are problems with the female partner’s uterus. You may have heard of celebrity couples who have used surrogates, such as Jimmy Fallon and his wife Nancy Juvonen, and Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. Here are some facts you need to know before you start on your journey to a family with a surrogate.

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