May 8th, 2012
The owner of a US surrogacy agency in Modesto pleaded not guilty on Monday to criminal charges of fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors allege she stole more than $2 million from clients who had paid money into trust for surrogacy fees and egg donation.
US authorities allege that the owner of SurroGenesis, Tonya Collins, encouraged clients to invest their money with a personal property escrow company which purported to be independent and that she concealed her ownership of the company and created fictitious staff identities to make it appear independent. Prosecutors allege that she then transferred client money to personal accounts to pay for a lavish lifestyle including holidays, homes and cars.
Judge Gary Austin is reported to have indicated that if found guilty, Ms Collins could face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for mail fraud and wire fraud, up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for bank fraud and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for money laundering.
There are no centralized laws governing the practice of surrogacy in the US and this case follows on from the recent prosecution of an international baby-selling ring headed by a prominent former US surrogacy attorney. There is also no international harmonization of surrogacy law around the world, with each jurisdiction taking its own approach to surrogacy and this can create a legal quagmire for intended parents. Whilst such cases are unusual, it highlights the risks associated with assisted conception and brings into focus once again the importance for intended parents to vet the professionals they choose to work with and ensure they have a clear understanding of the legal framework and issues relevant to their family building plans.
If you would like to discuss your personal situation in more detail or you would like more information about the legal issues associated with surrogacy please email me louisa.ghevaert@porterdodson.co.uk or call me +44 (0)207 222 1244 or visit www.porterdodsonfertility.com.
Tags: assisted conception, assisted conception law, californian surrogacy, commercial surrogacy, donor conception, Donor conception law, donor eggs, family building, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment law, gay surrogacy law, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, parenting, parenting lawyer, surrogacy, surrogacy agreement, Surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer, US surrogacy
Posted in Donor conception law, fertility law, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, Parenting law, Surrogacy law | No Comments »
May 1st, 2012
Leading fertility magazine Fertility Road (April/May 2012) features an article of mine entitled “Surrogacy and the celebrity factor”.
Celebrity endorsement of surrogacy continues to capture public imagination and celebrity interest in surrogacy shows no sign of abating. Hollywood movie actress Elizabeth Banks has recently spoken poignantly and compellingly about her reasons for turning to surrogacy and the birth of her son. To read the full article click here.
If you would like to discuss your situation in more detail or you would like more information about the legalities of surrogacy email me louisa.ghevaert@porterdodson.co.uk or call me +44 (0)207 222 1244 or visit www.porterdodsonfertility.com.
Tags: assisted conception, assisted conception law, californian surrogacy, commercial surrogacy, family building, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment, fertility treatment law, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, parenting, parenting law, parenting lawyer, surrogacy, surrogacy agreement, Surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer, US surrogacy
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April 26th, 2012
Many people turn to surrogacy when other forms of medical and fertility treatment have failed or following cancer. Intended parents often have a long history of medical problems and intervention, including ICSI and IVF, gynaecological procedures and miscarriage. There is therefore a strong link and correlation between surrogacy, infertility and healthcare and this raises many difficult issues when allegations of medical negligence arise.
Take the case of Helen McGlone, a 32 year old woman who is currently seeking damages that could top £30 million from the NHS following claims that doctors missed signs of cervical cancer at an early stage. McGlone claims that her job prospects have been severely damaged and that she may have to resort to surrogacy to have a family following the missed diagnosis and her subsequent hysterectomy.
McGlone claims that the missed diagnosis and surgery caused her to lose many of the abilities and qualities that would have enabled her to pursue a high flying and high pressure career in the financial sector. McGlone is understood to have a first class honours degree in physics and applied maths from Glasgow University and a PhD in physics. Her damages claim, which may exceed £30 million, includes claims for pain and suffering, loss of opportunity to earn and the consequences of loss of fertility.
Such cases are fraught with complex legal issues and can create a devastating trail of events that leave a lifelong impact on an individual’s life and cause immense distress and suffering. These sorts of cases also raise difficult questions about the balance of individual rights, standards of healthcare and concerns over a growing compensation culture.
Whereas in the past, women like McGlone would have struggled to have a family of their own, the growth of a global surrogacy sector gives hope that they can still have a child. That said, attitudes and approaches to surrogacy differ widely around the world and it can create all manner of legal and practical difficulties. If you would like to discuss your situation in more detail or you would like more information about the legalities of surrogacy please email me louisa.ghevaert@porterdodson.co.uk or call +44 (0)207 222 1244 or visit www.porterdodsonfertility.com.
Tags: assisted conception, assisted conception law, commercial surrogacy, donor conception, Donor conception law, donor eggs, donor sperm, family building, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment, fertility treatment law, infertility law, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, IVF law, Louisa Ghevaert, parental rights, parenting, parenting law, parenting lawyer, surrogacy, surrogacy agreement, surrogacy arrangement, Surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer
Posted in Donor conception law, fertility law, Louisa Ghevaert, Parenting law, Surrogacy law | Comments Off
April 18th, 2012
Advances in fertility treatment have outstripped the law and this increasingly challenges traditional concepts of parenthood. For those who have struggled for years with infertility or never thought they could have a child, they can now conceive using a sperm donor, an egg donor, a surrogate (or a combination of these). This creates a key question: who is a parent?
Traditionally, parenthood followed biology. The woman who gave birth to the child was legal mother and her husband was the presumed legal father. However, it is now a far more complex question in assisted conception cases. As growing numbers of people embrace fertility treatment, cross borders, engage foreign surrogacy organizations and conceive with donor eggs and sperm the concept of parenthood can seem confusing and unclear. This challenges existing law and policy and has resulted in a a legal jigsaw puzzle that many struggle to make sense of.
Assisted reproduction and modern family structures challenge traditional notions of family. Increasing numbers of people are creating families through surrogacy, using a known donor who may have ongoing involvement with the family, through co-parenting arrangements or embracing family life as a solo parent. This raises questions about the legal status and role of the individuals involved and whether parenthood should be based on biology, intent, pregnancy and birth or social parenting.
The structures of modern families are changing and assisted reproductive technology is developing at a fast pace. The law has not kept pace with these developments and there needs to be greater understanding of the different pieces of the jigsaw that make up family building through assisted conception, sperm and egg donation and surrogacy. Only then, can we effectively tackle the question of parenthood and put effective law and policy in place.
If you would like to discuss your personal situation in more detail or you would like more information please email me louisa.ghevaert@porterdodson.co.uk, call +44 (0)207 222 1244 or visit www.porterdodsonfertility.com.
Tags: assisted conception, assisted conception law, commercial surrogacy, donor conception, Donor conception law, donor eggs, donor sperm, embryo law, family building, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment, fertility treatment law, gay and lesbian parenting, gay men conception, gay parenting, gay surrogacy law, infertility, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, parenting, parenting law, parenting lawyer, sperm donor law, surrogacy agreement, Surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer
Posted in Donor conception law, embryo law, fertility law, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, Parenting law, Surrogacy law | Comments Off
April 12th, 2012
Infertility fears are increasingly common as more and more people think about their fertility and worry about starting a family. Infertility is a difficult issue and a diagnosis of infertility can affect you deeply.
Whilst some will take a proactive approach following a diagnosis of infertility, others will struggle to come to terms with this. Recent research shows that involuntary infertility has a big impact on self-esteem and emotional well-being in both men and women. Our sense of identity, our masculinity and femininity are linked to our fertility. People can find it difficult to discuss the problems they might have (or fear they might have) and it can put strain on relationships and affect performance at work.
For those people whose fertility levels do not improve through lifestyle changes, it may mean they will need to turn to assisted conception. Assisted conception can take many different forms, including IVF, ICSI, egg and sperm donation and surrogacy. The range of choice can seem overwhelming and it can be difficult to know where to start, or perhaps to reassess the situation if fertility treatment is unsuccessful.
If you are planning a family through fertility treatment or surrogacy it is equally important to get to grips with the legal issues so that you can ensure you properly protect your parental status and you can legally secure your family unit. Assisted conception, complex personal circumstances, an international dimension, donor conception, solo-parents, co-parents, same-sex parenting and known donation can all raise complex legal issues. If you would like to discuss your personal situation in more detail or you would like more information about the legal issues surrounding fertility treatment, surrogacy, egg and sperm donation or parenting and children email me louisa.ghevaert@porterdodson.co.uk or visit www.porterdodsonfertility.com.
Tags: assisted conception, assisted conception law, donor conception, Donor conception law, donor eggs, donor sperm, family building, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment, fertility treatment law, gay and lesbian parenting, gay men conception, gay parenting, infertility, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, IVF law, Louisa Ghevaert, parenting law, parenting lawyer, sperm donation law, surrogacy, Surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer
Posted in Donor conception law, fertility law, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, Parenting law, Surrogacy law | Comments Off
March 30th, 2012
Resolution, the professional body for family lawyers in England, has just published a guide with which I collaborated entitled “The Modern Family (A Resolution Guide). I’m delighted to say it includes a chapter on assisted conception law, donor conception and surrogacy.
The guide deals with modern day families created through step-parenting, adoption, assisted conception, surrogacy, same-sex parenting and grandparenting. Its aim is not only to deal with the legal issues when families breakdown but to also strengthen modern families and family networks. The guide acknowledges the fast moving issues created by family fragmentation, reform, movement abroad and creation through assisted reproductive technology and provides a concise overview of the main issues and difficulties involved.
If you would like to discuss your personal situation in more detail or you would like more information about fertility law, surrogacy, donor conception, family building and parenting law in the UK click here or email me louisa.ghevaert@porterdodson.co.uk or call me +44 (0)207 222 1244.
Tags: adoption, assisted conception, assisted conception law, donor conception, Donor conception law, family building, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment, gay and lesbian parenting, gay men conception, gay parenting, gay surrogacy law, grandparenting law, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, parenting law, parenting lawyer, sam-sex parenting, step-parenting, step-parenting law, surrogacy, Surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer
Posted in Donor conception law, fertility law, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, Parenting law, Surrogacy law | Comments Off
March 27th, 2012
There are number of factors that motivate the practice of surrogacy around the world, including altruism, infertility, commercialism and in some cases grief. Different jurisdictions take different approaches to surrogacy law and practice in what remains an evolving area fraught with many difficulties and challenges.
Sometimes, people are motivated to turn to surrogacy through tragedy as in the recently publicised Indian case of KP Ravikumar and his wife Karthyayani. Their only son died unexpectedly of testicular cancer in January 2011, leaving behind a semen sample in case his cancer treatment left him infertile. Ravikumar and his wife recently won a court order for the release of their son’s semen which they plan to use to conceive a child through surrogacy. Their case has made headlines and brought surrogacy once again into the media spotlight.
Ravikumar, aged 59, and his wife Karthayani, aged 58, first wanted to adopt a child following the death of their son but found they were disqualified by their combined age. Motivated by their grief and sense of loss, they turned to surrogacy. They found a relative of Ravikumar who was willing to become a surrogate mother for them and they planned to sell some of their land to raise enough money to cover the costs of the surrogacy arrangement. However, their surrogate subsequently backed out following intense media publicity.
Much of the publicity surrounding this case focused on the ages of Ravikumar and his wife and their desire to have their dead son’s child. India has no formal surrogacy laws as the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Regulation Bill 2010 has not yet been approved. As a result, there is no formal age bar or other legal restrictions preventing them from entering into a surrogacy arrangement.
Whilst the story is compelling in its grief and tragedy, it raises a number of complex legal issues associated with ownership of their son’s semen, parenting in later life, the best interests of the surrogate born child and the regulation of surrogacy law and practice. The lack of legal uniformity of surrogacy around the world, combined with growing demand for surrogacy and assisted conception creates a number of challenges for law and policy makers. This case aptly demonstrates the overwhelming desire that can motivate some to become parents through surrogacy when all else has failed and the complex issues it can create. Assisted reproductive technology is here to stay and this makes family building possible in ways that simply was not a reality twenty or thirty years ago.
If you would like more information about the legal issues associated with surrogacy click here or contact me by email louisa.ghevaert@porterdodson.co.uk or call +44 (0)207 222 1244.
Tags: assisted conception, assisted conception law, commercial surrogacy, donor conception, Donor conception law, donor sperm, embryo law, family building, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment, fertility treatment law, Indian surrogacy, infertility, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, parenting law, parenting lawyer, surrogacy, surrogacy agreement, Surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer
Posted in Donor conception law, embryo law, fertility law, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, Surrogacy law, Uncategorized | Comments Off
March 16th, 2012
The Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence has recently issued guidelines for Irish intended parents who enter into surrogacy arrangements abroad. Whilst any attempt to streamline the complex legal issues and problems associated with international surrogacy is to be welcomed, these guidelines are a far cry from a much needed root and branch overhaul of the fundamental legal treatment of international surrogacy arrangements in Ireland and the introduction of formal surrogacy legislation.
The new guidelines coincide with recent media coverage of an increasing number of foreign born surrogate babies left stranded abroad in circumstances where their Irish intended parents have no clear means of securing their safe passage home to Ireland after the birth. Whilst the guidelines do create a clearer pathway for Irish citizenship or emergency travel clearance to be granted to the surrogate born child if the intended father is an Irish citizen and biological father, this can still take many weeks or months to secure in circumstances where a DNA test and a raft of other paperwork and/or an Irish court order is also required.
The Irish surrogacy guidelines make no change to the legal position of the Irish intended mother who lacks legal status for the surrogate born child at birth. Irish law continues to regard the surrogate mother as the child’s legal mother by virtue of carrying the pregnancy and if married her husband as legal father (a position which is mirrored under English law).
Overall, the Irish surrogacy guidelines signify a need for greater legal certainty of the complex legal issues that surrogacy and assisted reproduction create. The guidelines mark a step forward but fall short of radical reform. The lack of a uniform approach to surrogacy law and practice around the world continues to create complex international conflicts of law and very real difficulties for intended parents and their surrogate born children alike. There needs to be rational international debate and consensus at its widest level about the nature and practice of surrogacy, payments, issues of enforceability and the associated international movement of children.
If you would like to discuss your situation in more detail or you would like more information about the legal issues associated with international surrogacy click here or email me louisa.ghevaert@porterdodson.co.uk or call me +44 (0)207 222 1244.
Tags: assisted conception, assisted conception law, commercial surrogacy, donor conception, Donor conception law, family building, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment law, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, IVF law, Louisa Ghevaert, parental rights, parenting, parenting law, parenting lawyer, surrogacy, surrogacy agreement, surrogacy lawyer
Posted in Donor conception law, fertility law, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, Parenting law, Surrogacy law | Comments Off
March 9th, 2012
Despite a legal ban on surrogacy in France, the Court of Appeal in Rennes has recently upheld a previous ruling to give French civil status to twins born to a French couple following an Indian surrogate arrangement.
This ruling is in stark contrast to a separate case last year where the French Supreme Court denied civil status to twins born following a US surrogacy arrangement. The Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Rennes was made on the basis that although they could not validate the surrogacy agreement, they could grant the twins civil status relying on article 47 of the French civil code (even though similar arguments in the French Supreme Court were unsuccessful last year). This judgment placed the best interests of the twins at the heart of the decision, although it is still unclear if this marks a change in attitudes towards surrogacy law and practice in France as a whole.
International surrogacy arrangements continue to raise complex legal issues that challenge law and policy around the world. Many countries prohibit surrogacy or legally restrict the practice of surrogacy. International surrogacy arrangements often create complex international conflicts of law that can leave surrogate born children stateless with no citizenship anywhere in the world. If you would like more information about the legal issues associated with surrogacy click here or contact me by email louisa.ghevaert@porterdodson.co.uk or call +44 (0)207 222 1244.
Tags: assisted conception, assisted conception law, commercial surrogacy, donor conception, Donor conception law, family building, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment, fertility treatment law, Indian surrogacy, international surrogacy, international surrogacy law, IVF law, Louisa Ghevaert, parental order, parenting law, parenting lawyer, surrogacy, surrogacy agreement, Surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer, US surrogacy
Posted in fertility law, international surrogacy law, Louisa Ghevaert, Parenting law, Surrogacy law | Comments Off
February 29th, 2012
UK surrogate mother, Jill Hawkins, is pregnant again for a ninth time. Jill, a legal secretary from Brighton aged 47, is due to give birth to her ninth and tenth surrogate babies three weeks before her 48th birthday. Jill spoke of her pride of being a surrogate mother and how fulfilled she felt during pregnancy during a recent press interview.
Jill’s first seven surrogate babies are reported to have been conceived through artificial insemination using her own eggs and the intended father’s sperm. This time round, Jill conceived twins through IVF using the intended parents’ own embryos.
Jill is the most prolific surrogate mother in the UK, following Carole Horlock’s move to France after giving birth to twelve surrogate babies. Jill and I were interviewed about surrogacy law and practice on BBC Breakfast last year (January 2011) - click here for more.
Surrogacy is a restricted legal practice in the UK. There is a public policy restriction against commercial surrogacy and surrogacy contacts are not binding in law. The surrogate mother is treated in law as the child’s legal mother at birth (regardless of biology) and intended parents need to apply to court for a parental order to extinguish the legal status of their surrogate mother and obtain full legal parental status for their child.
If you would like to discuss your situation in more detail or you would like more information about the legal issues associated with surrogacy click here or contact me by email louisa.ghevaert@porterdodson.co.uk or call +44 (0)207 222 1244.
Tags: assisted conception, assisted conception law, donor conception, Donor conception law, donor eggs, donor sperm, embryo law, family building, fertility law, fertility lawyer, fertility treatment law, IVF law, Louisa Ghevaert, parental order, parenting, parenting law, parenting lawyer, surrogacy, Surrogacy law, surrogacy lawyer
Posted in Donor conception law, embryo law, fertility law, Louisa Ghevaert, Parenting law, Surrogacy law | Comments Off
The owner of a US surrogacy agency in Modesto pleaded not guilty on Monday to criminal charges of fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors allege she stole more than $2 million from clients who had paid money into trust for surrogacy fees and egg donation.