Background

In EF v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority [2024] EWHC 3004 (Fam), EF and his wife AB had undergone fertility treatment in 2017 at a clinic licensed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), during which an embryo had been created which remains stored by the clinic. Tragically, AB died unexpectedly in childbirth, and she had not signed the necessary consent form for the use of the embryo.

The HFEA refused EF permission to use the embryo with a surrogate, and he sought a declaration that it would be lawful for him to do so, based on the contention that the HFEA’s refusal was an interference with his Article 8 rights under the ECHR, alone and in light of Article 9, and with those rights when considered in the context of Article 14:  that “paragraph 1 of Schedule 3 to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology 1990 Act should be construed pursuant to s.3 Human Rights Act 1998 to dispense with the need for written and signed consent” [1-4]. Continue reading →