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Gamete donor anonymity: “It’s difficult to move on without knowing your true origins”
"Who do I look like?"—a question often asked by individuals born through sperm donation. Marion Tièche, a psychologist specialising in adoption and medically assisted reproduction, explains the relevance of knowing your origins from a psychological perspective. "In...
US – terminally ill family man opposes medically assisted dying
In May 2014, J.J. Hanson, married with two children, was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme stage 4 tumour and given just four months to live. Following his diagnosis, he became president of the Patients' Rights' Action Fund, an association which recently...
Arizona – law allocates frozen embryos to the party who chooses to “develop them to birth”
In the US, the increase in the number of frozen embryos, currently amounting to millions, inevitably leads to disputes surrounding their fate. Judges have often, although not always, ruled in favour of the person who refused to consent to the embryos being used,...
New US Supreme Court Justice nominated
On Monday evening, US President, Donald Trump, named Brett Kavanaugh as a nominee for Supreme Court Justice. In his televised address, President Trump stated that he had not chosen the candidates based on "their personal opinions but on their ability to put those to...
Abortion and contraception will not appear in the French Constitution
The National Assembly has rejected changes from the opposition calling for the inclusion of rights to abortion and contraception in the French Constitution (see French Senate debate on including a "right to abortion" in the Constitution: storm in a teacup!)....
Tenth artificial heart implant for Carmat
The company Carmat recently performed an artificial heart implant for its tenth patient (see: Carmat prepares to market its artificial heart). According to a company press release, none of the study patients died during surgery or in the days following the...
Sentenced in France, pharmacist turns to the European Court of Human Rights to defend conscientious objection
Sentenced in 2016 for refusing to sell an intrauterine device because of the product's potential abortive effects, pharmacist Bruno Pichon has just submitted a request to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) "to respect freedom of conscience". In France,...
India – abused surrogate mother presses charges
A 30-year-old Indian surrogate mother with two children has just pressed charges for rape, blackmail and fraud. The incident dates back to when she had to look for work following her husband's car accident, which left him bedridden for more than two years. From this...
IVF in Quebec: below 60% since an end to reimbursement
With the end of free IVF programmes in Quebec from 2015 onwards[1], demand has fallen by 60% in three years. In 2014-2015, the global cost of IVF amounted to $74 million—a budget deemed excessive by Health Minister Gaétan Barrette. Furthermore, IVF costs...
Euthanasia soaring in Belgium
In Belgium, the latest report by the Federal Euthanasia Control Commission (CFCEE) was presented to the Chamber on Tuesday. The Commission produces this report for legislators every two years. This particular report lists all cases of euthanasia recorded between 1...
33% of Americans have used or know someone who has used an artificial reproductive technique
Forty years after the birth of Louise Brown, the first test-tube baby born through IVF, a study carried out by the Pew Research Center has revealed that 33% of American adults have personally used or know someone who has used fertility treatment to have a child....
British scientists to authorise Genetically Modified Babies
The application of CRISPR to embryos not only modifies the embryo in question, but also makes permanent changes to all descendants. Felicity Boardman, Professor of Social Science and Systems in Health at Warwick University in England, warns of the inherent dangers in...