News
Transgender parents and UK fertility law
There is growing awareness in the UK of the fertility needs of transgender people. Hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery often affect fertility and so, like cancer patients having chemotherapy, a transgender man or woman going through a gender transition...
Court of Appeal gives permission to appeal in the Re M posthumous conception case
We welcome the news that the Court of Appeal has today given our clients, Mr and Mrs M, permission to bring an appeal in the case of IM v HFEA (Re M). The case involves the stored frozen eggs of a young woman who died prematurely from cancer. Her parents, Mr and Mrs...
High Court gives guidance for international surrogacy cases, after newborn surrogate twins are left stranded for a year in India
In yet another decision to highlight the deficiencies of UK surrogacy law, the High Court has criticised the handling of an international surrogacy case in which twins born to British parents were left stranded in India for more than a year. The important decision of...
What happens when a couple with frozen embryos divorces?
In a recent Californian case, a judge ordered that a divorced couple’s frozen embryos should be destroyed. The embryos were created after the ex-wife, Lee’s, diagnosis of breast cancer, as following her treatment, it would be very difficult for her to conceive...
High court rules in favour of lesbian parents, refusing sperm donor’s application for contact
The High Court has refused a known sperm donor’s application for regular involvement with the baby he helped a lesbian couple conceive. Although Mrs Justice Theis had previously given the known donor ‘leave’ to bring a court application, she ultimately rejected the...
NGA quoted in the Guardian: The kindness of strangers – should surrogates get paid?
The Guardian's Weekend magazine today includes a long feature about surrogacy, thoughtfully covering the challenges of the existing law as well as the experience of parents going through the process in the UK and overseas. As well as featuring six of the landmark...
NGA assists with Big Voice London’s model Law Commission project on surrogacy
The NGA team has been delighted to support a project run by Big Voice London on surrogacy law reform, asking whether the law in the UK needs to be updated. Each year, Big Voice London (a project supported by the UK Supreme Court and Law Commission) runs a model Law...
Recognition for NGA as a top UK family law firm
We have had a busy few months at NGA, with a lot to be excited about. Chambers and Legal 500 The UK’s two main legal directories have published their independent research findings, and we are – once again – ranked as a top family law firm. Including NGA in the select...
An end to surrogacy in India for UK couples?
Surrogacy has hit the headlines again, with India apparently in the process of prohibiting foreign couples engaging in surrogacy there. With hundreds of UK parents travelling to India for surrogacy each year, this will be a significant blow. Surrogacy laws have...
Mitochondrial Donation becomes licensable in the UK from today
On 3 February 2015, the House of Commons voted to approve the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015, and made the UK the first country in the world where mitochondrial donation is both scientifically possible and legally allowed....
NGA contributes to Stonewall’s new guide for gay dads
NGA Law has been delighted to write the family law content for Stonewall's new guide for gay dads. Covering surrogacy, known donation and co-parenting we have written the content in the guide on legal parenthood, and how to manage the practicalities of building a...
Administrative errors at IVF clinics jeopardise families’ legal parenthood
In this recent case, the President of the Family Division made damming criticisms of IVF clinics across the UK, and their regulator the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, highlighting a pattern of “widespread incompetence” across the sector. This case was...
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