Tag: children

Stateless Children and Parents Who Are Legal ‘Strangers’: The Irish Families Left in Limbo

By Peter McGuire | thejournal.ie | July 14, 2020

This article provides a brief history of the rights of parents in Ireland whose children are conceived through assisted reproduction. The author posits that legal protections for children conceived outside traditional heterosexual relationships still fall short. For example, birth certificates of children born to same-sex couples do not recognize both parents as legal guardians. In one case, an Irish couple who conceived a child with the help of a surrogate in the United States had to sign an affidavit stating that one parent is a legal stranger in order to attain an Irish passport for their newborn. Despite recommendations from the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR), the article asserts that legislation has yet to be made to make assisted reproduction more accessible for all family structures involved.

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We Missed Our Baby’s Birth Because of Covid-19

Outlook | BBC Sounds | June 16, 2020

In this BBC World Service podcast, Emily Webb interviews Patrick and Enitan Goredema from Canada about their experience becoming parents during COVID-19. They discuss their earlier struggle with infertility and IVF, cultural attitudes toward infertility in their home countries of Zimbabwe and Nigeria, and dynamics around the race of the surrogate. Patrick and Enitan describe the process of undergoing egg retrieval abroad, Skyping with the surrogate, and having to cross two borders and quarantine in Georgia before meeting their child. 

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The Surrogate is in Oregon. The Parents are in China. And the Baby is in Limbo.

By Libby Dowsett | The Oregonian/OregonLive | April 5, 2020

A surrogate mother in Oregon explains how the COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions have drastically changed the birth plan for the child, whose parents are in China. In this article, new questions arise, such as when will the child’s parents be able to come to America and who will be the child’s guardian in the meantime?

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How Coronavirus Is Affecting Surrogacy, Foster Care and Adoption

By David Dodge | New York Times | April 1, 2020

How has coronavirus impacted surrogacy, adoption, and foster care? This article explores how global travel restrictions have left surrogacy agencies in the United States scrambling for exemptions for their international clients — particularly for those working with surrogates who are scheduled to give birth in the next month or two.

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Disabled Child Abandoned in Ukraine Shines Light on Troubled Surrogacy Industry

By Xavier Symons | BioEdge | August 24, 2019

Three-year-old Bridget was conceived in the Ukraine through a surrogacy arrangement but abandoned after birth when her parents discovered she was ill and had disabilities. Her case, as this article explains, is not isolated and is promoting critics to call for stricter surrogacy regulations.

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Article: Do IVF and Other Infertility Tech Lead to Health Risks for the Baby? Maybe.

Do IVF and Other Infertility Tech Lead to Health Risks for the Baby? Maybe.
By Mara Gordon | National Public Radio | Sept. 19, 2018

This article explores new research, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, on children conceived through certain infertility treatments and their risk for cardiovascular disease. While the study’s authors indicate that the findings are preliminary, they encourage families using infertility treatments to be vigilant about screening their children and mitigating other risk factors, such as smoking, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle.

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In 2012, the same team of scientists published a paper showing that 65 healthy children  born with the help of ART were more likely than their peers to have early signs of problematic blood vessels.

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Article: 44 Siblings and Counting

44 Siblings and Counting
By Ariana Eunjung Cha | The Washington Post | Sept. 12, 2018

The midsummer reunion in a suburb west of the city looks like any other, but these family ties can’t be described with standard labels. Instead, Arroyo, a 21-year-old waitress from Orlando, is here to meet “DNA-in-laws,” various “sister-moms” and especially people like Sophia, a cherished “donor-sibling.”

This article follows Kianni Arroyo, one of many children created using sperm from “donor #2757,” in her quest to find her donor-siblings. It tracks country-specific caps on donor births, as well as efforts of organizations like Donor Sibling Registry that urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to limit the number of births per donor, mandate reporting of donor-conceived births, and require donors to provide post-conception medical updates.

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Article: Spanish Couples Undergoing Surrogacy Processes Left in Legal Limbo in Ukraine

Spanish Couples Undergoing Surrogacy Processes Left in Legal Limbo in Ukraine
By Silvia Blanco | El País | Aug. 31, 2018

As Ukraine transforms into a desirable hub for international commercial surrogacy, concerns are emerging. This article – like others found here – touches on irregularities and poor quality of care at fertility clinics, and focuses on the 30 Spanish intended parents unable to obtain passports from the Spanish Consulate in Kiev for their children amidst fears of the trafficking of minors.

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Article: Japanese Man Wins Sole Custody of 13 Surrogacy Children

Japanese Man Wins Sole Custody of 13 Surrogacy Children
By Daniel Hurst | The Guardian | Feb. 20, 2018

the guardianIn a saga that started in 2014, one of the richest men in Japan has just been granted custody of children he commissioned from Thai gestational mothers. In its ruling, the central juvenile court “found the father had no history of bad behaviour and would provide for the children’s happiness.”

This case first came to light in the regulatory upheaval following the case of Baby Gammy in Thailand, and resulted in the country’s eventual ban on international commercial surrogacy. It continues to raise questions as, according to Sam Everingham, a director of the Australia-based consultancy Families Through Surrogacy, an example of “an unacceptable abuse of the limited pool of gestational surrogates globally” and, more broadly, the ethics of a practice that does not protect the rights of the women and children involved.

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Report: Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance — United States, 2015

Assisted Reproductive Technology Surveillance — United States, 2015
By Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report | Feb. 16, 2018

From the introduction:

Since the first U.S. infant conceived with assisted reproductive technology (ART) was born in 1981, both the use of ART and the number of fertility clinics providing ART services have increased steadily in the United States. ART includes fertility treatments in which eggs or embryos are handled in the laboratory (i.e., in vitro fertilization [IVF] and related procedures). Although the majority of infants conceived through ART are singletons, women who undergo ART procedures are more likely than women who conceive naturally to deliver multiple-birth infants. Multiple births pose substantial risks for both mothers and infants, including obstetric complications, preterm delivery (<37 weeks), and low birthweight (<2,500 g) infants. This report provides state-specific information for the United States (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) on ART procedures performed in 2015 and compares birth outcomes that occurred in 2015 (resulting from ART procedures performed in 2014 and 2015) with outcomes for all infants born in the United States in 2015.

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