This episode of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) podcast discusses proposed changes to the law governing fertility treatment and embryo research.

The discussion is chaired by Sarah Norcross (Director of PET), with contributions from:

⚫ Professor Gillian Black (Law Commissioner responsible for Surrogacy at the Scottish Law Commission)

⚫ Beverley Addison (Senior Solicitor at BTO Family Law)

⚫ Dr Alan Brown (Senior Lecturer in Private Law at the University of Glasgow)

⚫ Alan Inglis (Barrister and Advocate at Arnot Manderson Advocates)

Since 2017, the Scottish Law Commission and the Law Commission of England and Wales have been reviewing UK surrogacy law, developing proposals for reform and holding a public consultation on how the law might be changed.

Now, the Law Commissions have drafted a new Surrogacy Bill and presented it to Government, together with the wide-ranging report Building Families through Surrogacy: A New Law.

The proposals from the Law Commissions include:

⚫ A new pathway to parenthood which, if followed, would enable the intended parents of a child via surrogacy to acquire legal parenthood upon birth of the child (rather than having to wait for months to obtain a parental order).

⚫ Maintaining the current requirement that at least one of the intended parents must have a genetic link to the prospective child (this would preclude so-called 'double donation').

⚫ Enabling a court to make a parental order where the surrogate withdraws her consent.

⚫ Establishing a system whereby surrogacy agreements are overseen and supported by nonprofit organisations, which would themselves be regulated by the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

⚫ Establishing a new Surrogacy Register, to enable surrogate-born people to access information about their origins.

⚫ Continuing the current prohibition on commercial surrogacy, while clarifying rules on payments that intended parents are – and are not – permitted to make to surrogates.

⚫ Discouraging international surrogacy arrangements in favour of domestic arrangements, while seeking to add safeguards if international arrangements are made.

This discussion begins with an overview of the Law Commissions' work, presented by the Scottish Law Commissioner responsible for surrogacy. Other legal experts then offer their perspectives on the Law Commissions' proposals.

PET is grateful to the Scottish Government for supporting this discussion.

PET is also grateful to Jon Nicoll, who created the opening and closing music for its podcast.

Register at https://www.progress.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/ for upcoming PET events.