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“Another woman has given birth to my son”: surrogate mother sues fertility clinic
38 year-old Canadian, Alicia Chonn, is suing the Olive Fertility Center, which she claims used her eggs without her consent to inseminate the friend whose first child she carried as the surrogate mother. In fact, eight months after the birth of the baby...
Transhumanism: “The real danger for the future of mankind is the commercialisation of life”
In an interview with Le Figaro, Jean-Marie le Méné[1], President of the Fondation Lejeune, and Laurent Alexandre[2], surgeon and neurobiologist, compare their vision for the future of mankind. Whereas Laurent Alexandre believes that robots will replace humans,...
Down syndrome: research is progressing
Scientists at the University of Geneva and ETHZ Zurich (Institute for Technology and Natural Sciences)"have discovered that the symptoms of Down syndrome are triggered by the uncontrolled deregulation of cell proteins". Their results have been published in the...
Born through gamete donation: “My entire life is nothing but a lie”
This is what John, a 22 year-old Englishman said when he learned that he had been born through gamete donation. His younger sister, who is 19 and pregnant, asked her parents if there were "any hereditary family conditions she ought to know about". Her parents simply...
“CRISPR kits” sold by a biohacker
Former NASA employee, Josiah Zayner, "has become the biohacker on everyone's lips" after experimenting on himself. Following the transplantation of faecal matter in 2016, he talked about "injecting himself with a CRISPR system allegedly capable of boosting the...
“No-one should be afraid of having a child with Down syndrome”
In the United Kingdom, Louise Johnson decided to speak out and make society more aware of Down syndrome. Six years ago, she gave birth to twins, Thomas and Jacob, one of whom has Down syndrome. Nothing was detected during her pregnancy. The doctor asked...
Embryo donation – not such a “rosy” practice
In Australia, excess embryos generated through a medically assisted procreation programme can be "donated" to an infertile couple without the procedure having to remain anonymous. For Natalie Parker and her husband, this "embryo donation" strategy did not turn out to...
Australia: the State of Victoria legalises assisted suicide
This Wednesday, a controversial law on "assisted death" was adopted following a "rigorous debate" in the Australian State of. This will take effect in June 2019. This is the first Australian State to legalise assisted suicide after a very brief period of legislation...
A surrogate mother “database” in the Netherlands?
A Dutch fertility expert, gynaecologist Roel Schats[1], is calling for the introduction of a "surrogate mother database". This register would list women agreeing to carry a child for infertile couples. Surrogacy is legal in the Netherlands in that a...
English legal system facing increasing complex family cases
In England, a Family Court judge, Mr. MacDonald, has noted that judges have to rule on increasingly complex family situations: "Judges, practitioners and professionals are more and more concerned with cases that arise from surrogacy arrangements between...
Palliative care: “Sometimes, all it takes is empathy”
In Brisbane (Queensland), Australia, two paramedics transporting a "terminally ill female patient" admitted to a palliative care unit, responded to her wish to "see the sea one last time". When transporting her in the ambulance, they made a detour to Harvey Bay, and...
Dog clones and “reclones” – are they in good health?
Based on cells taken from Snuppy, "the first dog cloned ten years ago,", a team comprising South Korean and American scientists [1] successfully "recloned" four puppies" a few years ago. Snuppy had been cloned by the same unit in Seoul in 2005 using an...