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“Creating a child through surrogacy poses the risk of generating a relational disorder”
In the La Libre newspaper, psychotherapist, Anne Schaub, speaks out against the "harm inflicted on children through surrogacy", and deplores the fact that the child is overlooked in debates focusing on "a desire to have a child, generosity, solidarity" and...
Germany: sperm donors will no longer be anonymous
Germany has just adopted a law to put an end to anonymity for sperm donors - a practice that leads to the birth of over 1000 children per year in this country. German legislation seeks to create a "central register of sperm donors and female recipients". The data...
CRISPR: numerous, unexpected “off-target” mutations in humans
In the Nature Methods journal published on 29 May, the team lead by Doctor VinitMahajan from Stanford University issued a warning to scientists using CRISPR-Cas9 as the tool "appears to trigger even more unexpected mutations than was originally anticipated". Whilst...
Belgium, Luxembourg: euthanasia is increasing
Euthanasia was decriminalised in Belgium 15 years ago. Since May 2002, almost 15,000 people have been officially given euthanasia and this number has increased by 41% over the last four years. In Luxembourg, euthanasia has been legal since 2009. Figures...
One of Us Forum: two-day pro-life debate
Last weekend, the One of Us/ Un de Nous Federation brought together 600 people in Budapest for the second European pro-life forum involving European and national politicians, relevant celebrities and health and ethics experts (seeOne of Us Federation: second...
Homosexual couple forced to hand over “their baby” born to a surrogate mother
Originating from Twente in the Netherlands, two men contacted a surrogate mother in order to become parents. The surrogate mother was apparently inseminated with the couple's sperm and it was agreed that the woman could continue to have intercourse with her husband....
Greece: the flourishing trafficking of eggs
The economic crisis in Greece is leading an increasing number of women to sell their eggs or become surrogate mothers. In this country, the supply of eggs is such that many laboratories are forced to export them to other European countries "in order not to lose them"....
Florida: birth certificates in the case of miscarriages
On 31 May, Florida Governor, Rick Scott, validated a draft bill allowing the State to issue "stillborn certificates" in the event of miscarriages. These certificates will be issued on parental request, for miscarriages occurring between the ninth and...
United states: religious congregations exempt from Obamacare
In the United States, Obamacare, which was adopted in 2010, obliged employees to provide social cover for their employees with particular focus on sterilisation, abortion and contraception. This measure was attacked by religious congregations who did not wish to...
China: the first clinical trials using human embryo stem cells
A team of scientists at Zhengzhou University are preparing to initiate the first Chinese clinical trial using human embryo stem cells in an attempt to treat people with Parkinson's disease. At the same time, a second team will start a study using human embryo stem...
Surrogacy and “pathologicalisation” of the desire to have a child
Maria de Koninck, sociologist and Professor Emeritus at the Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec, believes that surrogacy should be "banned at all costs". Two recent decisions forced the province to acknowledge the adoption of babies by Quebec parents who had...
A Dutch woman traces her father – anonymity of sperm donation challenged
A 32 year-old Dutch woman has succeeded in tracing her father via American companies specialising in the storage of DNA data. Using just three samples of saliva, a commercial data base allowed the young woman to trace the sperm donor's Australian great-great...