James Moore | BioNews | November 22, 2021
Starting in July 2022, same-sex couples in Switzerland will be able to marry and access the same assisted reproduction, adoption, and fertility services as heterosexual couples. Surrogacy and egg donation remain illegal, so families desiring these services would only have access by traveling abroad.
Michaela Chen | BioNews | October 25, 2021
Irish couple Ranae von Meding and her wife, Audrey Rooney, won the right to be legally recognized as a two-mother family. The couple’s two daughters were conceived in Spain through reciprocal IVF, in which Rooney’s egg was fertilized in vitro and implanted into von Meding’s uterus. Only von Meding was recognized as the legal parent, though the two were married when Rooney gave birth to both daughters. Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 only recognizes same-sex couples who conceive and birth in Ireland, but von Meding and Rooney conceived in Spain because no Irish clinics offered reciprocal IVF at the time. Irish legislation is still lacking legal parenthood provisions on surrogacy, home insemination, and births abroad.
Kim Bhasin | Bloomberg | October 7, 2021
Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) players can now receive free access to fertility support and testing services from San Francisco-based company Modern Fertility. This plan comes as an addition to the 2020 agreement drawn between the WNBA and its players that increased compensation and benefits such as paid maternity leave, child-care stipend, adoption, and surrogacy. The health of female athletes has been a hot topic recently, especially with high-profile figures such as tennis player Naomi Osaka and gymnastics athlete Simone Biles vocal on the topic.
Rebecca Alwine | Military.com | September 7, 2021
Nonprofit organization Coast Guard Mutual Assistance recently introduced the Assisted Reproductive Services (ARS), a zero-interest loan available to military personnel who wish to use fertility treatments. The loan is available to all personnel regardless of marital status and sexual orientation, and can be reapplied for multiple times. ARS provides up to $6,000 for fertility treatments, such as intrauterine insemination, IVF, surrogacy, and other ARTs. One same-sex Army couple, who spent almost $20,000 to conceive their three children via IVF, says one ARS loan “would have covered five IUI [intrauterine insemination] treatments easily.”
Jordan Williams | The Hill | August 5, 2021
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its policy regarding children born through surrogacy and IVF abroad. The new policy means that a child born to a non-genetic or non-gestational parent will be a US citizen if the parent is married to the genetic or gestational parent. This allows for greater recognition of children born to same sex couples as well as families where there are not two genetic parents.
Caitlin Huey-Burns | CBS News | July 20, 2021
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth introduced the “Support Through Loss Act” which would require employers to provide at least three days paid leave following any reproductive loss, including miscarriage, failed adoption or surrogacy arrangement, or unsuccessful fertility procedure. Currently, the Family and Medical Leave Act allows people to take upwards of 12 weeks unpaid leave to care for a newborn or newly adopted child, but there is no paid leave program yet.
Ellen Trachman | Above The Law | July 14, 2021
This case involves a Canadian couple struggling with infertility who had attempted unsuccessfully multiple times to conceive via IVF and surrogacy in India. The husband had an affair with a woman, who later entered an unsupervised surrogacy agreement with the couple. After various attempts to conceive, the woman eventually gave birth to a child with her donated egg and the husband’s sperm through a disputed method. In 2020, she demanded more compensation and parenting time with the child, eventually filing a legal case. So far, the court has classified her as a nonguardian and deemed her request harmful to the child, and the case will go to trial in January 2022.
Caitlin Fitzsimmons | The Sydney Morning Herald | June 13, 2021
A surrogacy education charity is helping Australian citizens obtain COVID travel exemptions from the government to go abroad for IVF treatment or surrogacy arrangements not available under federal or state law. All but one state in Australia forbid commercial surrogacy and all require egg donation be altruistic, so eggs are not available and intended parents are traveling outside the country for fertility treatments. Proponents of the Australian surrogacy legislation express shock that such a charity would help citizens circumvent a law meant to protect women from the exploitative nature of commercial surrogacy.
Louise Burne | Extra.ie | May 31, 2021
Sparked by a Labor Party Bill which proposed 20 days paid leave after miscarriage as well as 10 days paid leave for fertility treatment, many female politicians in Ireland have been sharing personal stories regarding their fertility journeys. Currently, Ireland is the only country in the European Union that does not offer state support for fertility treatment. During the legislative debate, several senators spoke about the emotional and physical trauma that followed fertility treatments or miscarriages and called for government-funded IVF and paid leave.
Katherine Plumhoff | Teen Vogue | April 9, 2021
This article describes the United States’ fertility industry as a commercial market in which egg donors are paid differential amounts based on race, social class, physical traits, and education level. It raises questions about whether targeted marketing may particularly entice low-income college students without providing adequate information about how little is known about the long-term risks. Researcher Dr. Diane Tober suggests increasing information about risks during the informed consent process, ongoing tracking of donor health, and eliminating the burden of the cost of education.
