Within the UK, fertility treatment is strictly regulated by the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority, (HFEA), under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, (the “1990 Act” and the “2008 Act”, respectively). The latest version of the HFCA Code of Practice, version 9.4, came into effect on 26 October 2023 and includes updates on the storage of gametes and embryos, as well as revisions to various guidance notes.
As a background to current developments, this Index provides links to the coverage of IVF by L&RUK where it is relevant to “law and religion”.
Mitochondrial donation treatment* – update July 2025, On 17 July 2025, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, (HFRA), issued the Press Release HFEA comments on the news that eight babies have been born after mitochondrial donation treatment which is reproduced below along with its informative Notes to Editors. (* a.k.a. “three-parent IVF”) (17 July 2025).
Adoption and race discrimination: Mander, We previously posted a brief note on the case of Sandeep and Reena Mander, based on press reports; however, the full judgment in Mander & Anor v Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead & Anor [2019] EWFC B64 is now available. (10 December 2019).
“Wrongful births” again: ARB v IVF Hammersmith, A judgment by the Court of Appeal: in ARB v IVF Hammersmith & Anor [2018] EWCA Civ 2803 the IVF clinic had implanted an embryo into the appellant father’s former wife without his consent and he sued for breach of contract. ARB (the father) and R (at the time, his wife) had had fertility treatment at the clinic some years previously and had had a son – and, in the course of their IVF treatment, the clinic had frozen five embryos from their gametes. The couple subsequently split up – but R decided that she wanted another child. (14 January 2019).
Approval for new “gene editing” techniques, Further progress in “gene editing” emphasizes the pressing need for a wider debate. On 1 February 2016, the Francis Crick Institute announced that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) had approved a research application to use new “gene editing” techniques known as “Crispr/Cas9” to modify human embryos, (5 February 2016).
Mitochondrial donation – aka “three-person IVF”, On Tuesday the Commons voted in favour of the creation of babies with DNA from two women and one man. Both the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church had expressed reservations about the procedure and the draft Regulations. A statement on “Where the Church [of England] really stands is available here. We summarized the legal issues in our post Three-person IVF and the law. (8 February 2015).
“Wrongful births”, statistics and the law, In the case of “healthy babies” the focus is medical negligence and its impact on the person involved. Following MacFarlane, the courts will not award costs in relation to bringing up the child; and where payment are made, these are relatively small when compared with payments for relating to costs awarded in respect of bringing up a disabled child. Without further information, however, it is not possible to draw any conclusions from the cost data provided recently in the Minister’s Written Answer, (7 November 2014).
MPs debate “Three-person IVF” (again), On Monday 1 September, MPs took part in the debate Mitochondrial Replacement (Public Safety), scheduled by the Backbench Business Committee and led by Fiona Bruce, (Congleton, Con). The introduction of Regulations to permit the selective use of mitochondrial transfer was discussed in the Westminster Hall debate on 12 March 2014, reported here, where for the government, Jane Ellison, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health, confirmed that that the regulations will be subject to the affirmative procedure and will be debated it in full on the Floor of the House, (2 September 2014).
Mitochondrial Transfer, The Westminster Hall debate on mitochondrial transfer, also on 12 March, was sub-titled “Three-Parent Children”, an emotive and even more inappropriate description than “Three-person IVF”: see our earlier post. Two statements require clarification: the criticism of the POSTnote entitled “Preventing Mitochondrial Disease which was said to speak of “people who oppose this as simply being in a pro-life camp” [2]; and the statement that “Article 3(2) [European Union Charter of Fundamental Human Rights] refers to the “prohibition of eugenic practices, in particular those aiming at the selection of persons” … [this technique] is eugenics, so it would be in contravention of the Charter of Fundamental Rights”[3], (16 March 2014).
“Three-person IVF” and the law, The profile of “three-person IVF” was raised during a recent Westminster Hall debate on the application of the technique to combating mitochondrial disease, and a subsequent Department of Health Press Release indicated that a public consultation “was expected” on the associated draft regulations, (16 July 2013).
Mothers, Fathers and Parents, A recent request by a same-sex couple for both of them to be identified as “mother” on a certificate of baptism, (7 September 2013).
Genetic disorders, embryo screening, private and family life and Article 8, In Costa and Pavan v Italy 54270/10 [2012] ECHR (28 August) [French text only] the couple complained that the only way in which they could have a healthy baby was to start a pregnancy by natural means and medically terminate it every time the foetus tested positive for cystic fibrosis – and that this was an interference with their rights under Article 8 ECHR (private and family life), (1 September 2012).