Academic literature on the topic 'Fertilisation procedure'

Background In vitro fertilisation is a widely used reproductive technique that can be undertaken with or without intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The endometrial scratch procedure is an in vitro fertilisation ‘add-on’ that is sometimes provided prior to the first in vitro fertilisation cycle, but there is a lack of evidence to support its use. Objectives (1) To assess the clinical effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of endometrial scratch compared with treatment as usual in women undergoing their first in vitro fertilisation cycle (the ‘Endometrial Scratch Trial’) and (2) to undertake a systematic review to combine the results of the Endometrial Scratch Trial with those of previous trials in which endometrial scratch was provided prior to the first in vitro fertilisation cycle. Design A pragmatic, multicentre, superiority, open-label, parallel-group, individually randomised controlled trial. Participants were randomised (1 : 1) via a web-based system to receive endometrial scratch or treatment as usual using stratified block randomisation. The systematic review involved searching electronic databases (undertaken in January 2020) and clinicaltrials.gov (undertaken in September 2020) for relevant trials. Setting Sixteen UK fertility units. Participants Women aged 18–37 years, inclusive, undergoing their first in vitro fertilisation cycle. The exclusion criteria included severe endometriosis, body mass index ≥ 35 kg/m2 and previous trauma to the endometrium. Interventions Endometrial scratch was undertaken in the mid-luteal phase of the menstrual cycle prior to in vitro fertilisation, and involved inserting a pipelle into the cavity of the uterus and rotating and withdrawing it three or four times. The endometrial scratch group then received usual in vitro fertilisation treatment. The treatment-as-usual group received usual in vitro fertilisation only. Main outcome measures The primary outcome was live birth after completion of 24 weeks’ gestation within 10.5 months of egg collection. Secondary outcomes included implantation, pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, pain and tolerability of the procedure, adverse events and treatment costs. Results One thousand and forty-eight (30.3%) women were randomised to treatment as usual (n = 525) or endometrial scratch (n = 523) and were followed up between July 2016 and October 2019 and included in the intention-to-treat analysis. In the endometrial scratch group, 453 (86.6%) women received the endometrial scratch procedure. A total of 494 (94.1%) women in the treatment-as-usual group and 497 (95.0%) women in the endometrial scratch group underwent in vitro fertilisation. The live birth rate was 37.1% (195/525) in the treatment-as-usual group and 38.6% (202/523) in the endometrial scratch group: an unadjusted absolute difference of 1.5% (95% confidence interval –4.4% to 7.4%; p = 0.621). There were no statistically significant differences in secondary outcomes. Safety events were comparable across groups. No neonatal deaths were recorded. The cost per successful live birth was £11.90 per woman (95% confidence interval –£134 to £127). The pooled results of this trial and of eight similar trials found no evidence of a significant effect of endometrial scratch in increasing live birth rate (odds ratio 1.03, 95% confidence interval 0.87 to 1.22). Limitations A sham endometrial scratch procedure was not undertaken, but it is unlikely that doing so would have influenced the results, as objective fertility outcomes were used. A total of 9.2% of women randomised to receive endometrial scratch did not undergo the procedure, which may have slightly diluted the treatment effect. Conclusions We found no evidence to support the theory that performing endometrial scratch in the mid-luteal phase in women undergoing their first in vitro fertilisation cycle significantly improves live birth rate, although the procedure was well tolerated and safe. We recommend that endometrial scratch is not undertaken in this population. Trial registration This trial is registered as ISRCTN23800982. Funding This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 26, No. 10. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

SummaryProduction of embryos that are free of tough outer coats facilitates studies that are not possible with embryos surrounded by impenetrable envelopes. This report describes a new procedure for preventing formation of fertilisation membranes in the sea urchin (Lytechinus pictus) model. This procedure involves treating unfertilised eggs with the enzyme alpha-amylase, which cleaves alpha-1,4 glucosidic bonds in the vitelline layer. A major advantage of this method is that it is very well defined and completely controllable with alpha-amylase inhibitor. The results suggest that intact alpha-1,4 glucosidic bonds are essential for vitelline layer integrity required for formation of the fertilisation membrane. Eggs treated with alpha-amylase possessed the same surface lectin receptors as untreated eggs and, as shown by light and transmission electron microscopy, produced healthy, cleaving embryos that were free of fertilisation envelopes.

Assessment of effectiveness of fertilisation is a complex, multistage procedure. A few methods, used for this purpose, are based mainly on physiological measures acquired from a limited number of plants. Assessment of the process taking into account the entire area, in which the crop is grown, can be conducted using satellite remote sensing methods. The current study presents four fertilisation schemes applied to maize plants, including innovative foliar fertilizers and soil localized fertilization. Nutritional status and condition of the plants were assessed using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and the results were analysed in relation to the grain yield. The findings show that the complex fertilisation technology applied to maize is most effective, producing grain yield which was 42.4% higher than the yield from the control variant.

Fertilisation failures occur in 2–3% of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles and are mostly caused by failure of oocyte activation. Assisted oocyte activation (AOA) may be an efficient treatment option to overcome oocyte activation failure. To evaluate the effectiveness of ICSI combined with AOA by strontium, six couples with complete fertilisation failure or low fertilisation rates (ranging from 0% to 16.7%; mean = 7.7%) in previous ICSI cycles were involved in the present study. In the latest ICSI cycles, AOA by strontium treatment was combined with ICSI to improve clinical outcomes. Fifty-two mature oocytes retrieved from six females were stimulated by strontium treatment after ICSI procedure, and 41 (78.8%) of them were successfully fertilised. The high-quality embryo rate was 41.5% (17/41) after culture for 5 days. Thirteen embryos were transferred (ranging from 2 to 3 per individual) resulting in three clinical pregnancies and three healthy babies were born. Furthermore, a pregnancy resulting in the birth of a healthy female infant was achieved following transfer of three frozen–thawed embryos. In conclusion, it appears that strontium treatment would be an effective method for AOA to improve fertilisation rates and embryo quality in cases with fertilisation failure after ICSI.

In an effort to improve the quality of in vitro produced porcine embryos, the effect of progestagens — progesterone analogues — on the in vitro developmental competence of porcine oocytes was studied. A total of 1421 in vitro matured oocytes, from 4 replicates, were inseminated with frozen-thawed spermatozoa. Progestagens were added to late maturation and embryo cultures (10 IU/ml). Fertilisation success (pre-maturation, penetration, monospermy and efficiency) and nuclear maturation were evaluated. There were no differences among prematuration rates between groups (P = 0.221). Penetration rates were higher (P < 0.001) in the presence of progestagens (75.0%) as compared to the control (51.7%). However, no differences were observed in monospermy percentages (P = 0.246). The results indicated that supplementation with progestagens increased the efficiency of the in vitro fertilisation system (P < 0.001). An additional beneficial effect was observed in nuclear maturation with progestagens (P = 0.035). In summary, progestagen supplementation is an important factor to improve the in vitro fertilisation procedure.

Increasing prices for wheat products and fertilisers call for an adjusted agricultural management to maintain yield and to improve product quality. With the increased use of sulfur-free fertilisers in modern cropping systems and the decrease of atmospheric sulfur emissions by industry, sulfur has become a major limiting factor for crop production. The presented data showed that by using GC-MS it was possible to quantitatively detect a set of 72 different metabolites including amino acids, organic acids, sugars, sugar phosphates, and sugar alcohols, phenolic compounds and nucleotides from wheat grains and flag leaves of a pot experiment. A principal component analysis (PCA) revealed a clear separation of flag leaves and grains and a clear separation of non-fertilised and fertilised flag leaves. It could further be shown by PCA, that the low level sulfur fertilisation is also separated from the higher fertilised grains. A considerable influence of the sulfur fertilisation not only on sulfur rich amino acids but also on the sugar metabolism was detected. With increasing sulfur fertilisation six sugars and sugar derivates in the grain such as glucose-6P, galactose, trehalose, cellobiose, melibiose, fumarate, glycerate and the nucleotide uracil were enhanced. Therefore, it was concluded that photosynthesis was limited in developing plants suffering from sulfur deficiency. Late sulfur fertilisation is a procedure that can help to prevent sulfur deficiency. A latent sulfur deficiency at ear emergence can be compensated by late sulfur fertilisation, as wheat plants can replenish sulfate deficits within a short time.

The effects of zinc (as ZnCl2) on in vitro production of bovine embryos (IVMFC) and components of the procedure, that is in vitro oocyte maturation (IVM), fertilisation (IVF) and embryo development in culture (IVC), and the effect of added zinc on sperm motility were studied. Immature cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were aspirated from ovarian follicles (2-5 mm diameter) at slaughter, and matured, fertilised and cultured in chemically defined conditions. The presence of zinc (10, 100 or 1000 μg added per millilitre) throughout IVMFC inhibited fertilisation. After addition of 10 μg zinc per millilitre separately to media for IVM and IVF, fertilisation was inhibited only when zinc was present for IVM. When present for IVF, 80% of oocytes selected for IVM reached 2- to 4-cell stages by 46 h after insemination whereas 67% of control oocytes (inseminated without added zinc) cleaved. Higher zinc concentrations (100 and 1000 μg added per millilitre) for IVF inhibited fertilisation. Sperm motility was reduced with addition of 10 μg per millilitre of zinc for sperm preparation (i.e. capacitation interval). Addition of 1.0 μg zinc per millilitre to media used through IVMFC, or to the IVC medium alone, resulted in inhibition of development after 2- to 4-cell stages. When added to IVM or to both IVM and IVF media 1.0 μg/ml of zinc compromised development to the morula stage and beyond. Maturing bovine oocytes may be more sensitive to 1.0 μg ml of zinc in vitro than in vivo because a concentration of 3.0 μg/ml has been reported for bovine follicular fluid. Fertilisation was not adversely affected by 10 μg/ml of zinc; however, higher concentrations were inhibitory.

A new company is offering extensive genetic analysis of embryos during an in vitro fertilisation procedure, allowing the derivation of polygenic scores for several diseases and embryo choice based on these results. Polygenic scores, if properly implemented, can indeed have substantial predictive value, and the possibility of embryo choice based on these data has become real, raising a number of practical and ethical problems. ‡

This portfolio explores stylistic and procedural cross-fertilisation between contemporary art music and electronic dance music through musicological investigation and creative practice. Comprised of six compositional 'projects', the creative work examines the hybridisation of the two main genres under consideration, involving both a formalisation of hybrid compositional procedures and an exploration of established and newly developed forms of musical borrowing, which function as tools of negotiation in the transference of materials within my own creative practice. The musicological component includes an overview of musical borrowing as manifested in electronic dance music in the form of digital sampling, considering the practice as a contemporary form of transformative imitation and offering a proposed typology of sampled material within the genre. It traces the links between early and modem forms of musical borrowing, from the pre-digital sampler in hip hop and the evolution of early sample-based compositional procedures through to the role of the digital sampler and the impact of technological innovation on the evolution of genre. An important part of the research has comprised of looking in detail at the tools of production used in the creation of electronic dance music by various artists. The output of this research into the functionality of the equipment and deliberate 'creative subversion' of its intended normative use has been used to develop a vocabulary of compositional techniques for use within my own work. A series of case studies (acid house, big beat, the 'remix') have been used to trace the relationship between genres, specific hardware and software, its idiomatic use, and the characteristics of the creative outputs associated with each genre. These case studies have significantly influenced the nature of the techniques evolved for use within my own compositional work.

Cette thèse porte sur l'étude du comportement hydrodynamique d'un embryon lors de la procédure de transfert suivant la fécondation in-vitro. Un couple sur six fait l'expérience de problèmes d'infertilité. Aujourd'hui 5 millions de nourrissons sont nés depuis la première fécondation in-vitro en 1978. En 2009, 1.5 millions de cycles de Procréation Médicalement Assistée étaient débutés, donnant ainsi naissance à350 000 nourrissons de par le monde. Le nombre de cycle est en constante augmentation de 5 à 10 % par an et le nombre de cycle de PMA pourrait être proche de 4 millions à l'horizon 2020. Bien que l'étape de fertilisation soit maintenant bien maitrisée avec 80% de réussite, l'étape finale du transfert d'embryon dans la cavité intra-utérine reste une étape critique puisque seulement 25% des cycles mènent à une grossesse viable. Bien que chaque cycle soit couteux, aucun protocole spécifique, optimisé, et indépendant de l'opérateur n'a encore été mis au point. Dans cette thèse, nous nous proposons de démontrer dans un premier temps l'intérêt et la faisabilité d'une approche de bio ingénierie. En effet, bien que l'issue de transfert dépende de nombreux facteurs chimiques et physiologiques, cette étape cruciale peut aussi être étudiée d'un point de vue mécanique des fluides. Cette étape peut être décomposée en plusieurs sous-étapes : l'introduction du cathéter dans la cavité intra utérine, l'injection du fluide medium contenant un ou plusieurs embryons, et le retrait du cathéter. On peut dégager plusieurs paramètres d'importance comme la viscosité des fluides, la vitesse d'injection, la vitesse de retrait du cathéter, le schéma de chargement du cathéter, et les géométries de la cavité et du cathéter. Dans une deuxième partie, nous nous intéressons à la structure des écoulements de fluides intra-uterins au moment de l'injection. L'influence des paramètres constitutifs d'importance est étudiée grâce à un code de calcul résolvant les équations de Navier-Stokes dans une géométrie tri-dimensionnelle idéalisée. Une étude des trajectographies potentielles des embryons est également réalisée et mis en relation directe avec les zones d'implantation optimales et à risques. A l'issue de ces calculs, nous sommes en mesure de proposer des recommandations à l'usage des cliniciens pratiquant le transfert d'embryon. La dernière partie de la thèse est une ouverture vers les méthodes numériquesnécessaires à l'appréhension des phénomènes d'interaction fluide/structure à l'échelle de l'embryon. L'embryon est en effet soumis à des contraintes potentiellement destructrices au moment du transfert qu'il ne nous est pas possible de définir précisément _à l'_échelle de l'utérus. Dans l'optique du développement d'un modèle mécanique d'un blastocyste pour déterminer les paramètres procéduraux minimisant les contraintes, nous présentons l'implémentation de deux méthodes numériques de type Eulerienne-Eulerienne. La première est une méthode level-set dans un code en volumes finis et bénéficiant de raffinement de maillage automatique. La seconde concerne une méthode phase-field basée sur un formalisme éléments finis de type Galerkin discontinu
This thesis focuses on the study of the hydrodynamic behavior of an embryo during the transfer process following the in vitro fertilization. Worldwide, one in six couples experiences infertility problems. Today, 5 millions babies are born from an in-vitro fertilization since the first one in 1978. In 2009, 1.5 millions Assisted Reproductive Technology cycles have been started, resulting in 350 000 births. The total number of cycles per year is constantly increasing (from 5 to 10 %), and the number of ART cycles is believed to reach 4 millions per year in 2020. Although the fertilization step is now fairly mastered with a 80% success rate, the final stage consisting in the embryo transfer into the uterine cavity remains a critical step, since only 25% of the cycles lead to a live birth. Even though every cycle is expensive, no specific, optimized and operator-independent protocol has been developed yet. In this thesis, we first demonstrate the interest and the feasibility of a bio-engineering approach. Indeed, although the issue of the transfer depends on numerous chemical and physiological factors, this crucial step can also be studied from a fluid mechanical point of view. This step can be divided in several sub-steps : introduction of the catheter in the intra-uterine cavity, injection of the medium fluid containing one or several embryos, and the withdrawal of the catheter. One can identify several important parameters such as fluids viscosity, injections speeds, catheter withdrawal speed, catheter loading scheme and the geometries of the uterine cavity and the catheter. In a second part, we focus on the fluid ow patterns inside the uterine cavity during the injection. The influence of the system parameters is studied thanks to a computational solving of the Navier-Stokes equations in an idealized three-dimensional uterine cavity. A study of the potential trajectories of the embryos is also conducted and confronted against the location of optimal implantation zones but also risky zones. As the outcome of these computations, we are able to propose recommendations for physicians practicing embryo transfers. In the last part of the thesis, we discuss numerical methods for the fluid{structure interaction study of embryo transfer. The embryo is indeed submitted to potentially destructive stress constraints at injection time that we are not capable of defining precisely at the scale of the uterine cavity. With the aim of developing a mechanical model for the blastocyst to determine system parameters minimizing the constraints, we present the implementation of two Eulerian numerical methods. The first one is a fluid-structure level set method in a finite volume code benefiting from an automatic mesh refinement feature. The second one addresses a phase field method based on a Discontinuous Galerkin finite element formalism

Genetic improvement in cattle has focused in recent years on the large reproductive potential that resides in the ovaries of females at an early age. It is estimated that approximately 150,000 oocytes are present in primordial follicles in foetal ovaries at birth, and recruitment of follicles from the primordial pool has been initiated by the time of birth. Further, follicular growth can be superstimulated in heifer calves from around 4 weeks of age by treatment with gonadotrophins, and oocytes recovered and placed through in vitro maturation and fertilisation procedures to produce viable embryos.

The capacity to use embryos derived from heifer calves has the potential to reduce generation intervals and increase the rates of genetic gain in cattle. Studies on embryo production from heifer calves have reported inconsistent and unpredictable responses to superstimulation of follicle growth with FSH, similar to that observed in sexually mature heifers. Heifer calves that had a relatively large (>10mm) follicle on the ovary at the end of superstimulation, had a smaller number of total follicles compared with heifer calves that did not have a large follicle on the surface of the ovary. This observation led to the suggestion that follicular interrelationships may occur from an early age in heifers, and that a large follicle may suppress the development of other follicles. Nutrition appears to influence ovarian follicle status in peri-pubertal and pubertal heifers and possibly the response to superstimulation of follicular growth in older animals. There may be a role, therefore, for nutrition in ovarian follicle growth and responses to superstimulation in heifer calves.

In a number of studies oocytes obtained from heifer calves were reported to have a reduced developmental competency in vitro compared with oocytes obtained from ovaries of post-pubertal heifers.

In cattle, treatment with agonists of gonadotrophin hormone releasing hormone (GnRH) desensitises the anterior pituitary gland to GnRH which blocks pulsatile secretion of LH but allows continued basal LH secretion. Antagonists of GnRH prevent both pulsatile and basal secretion of LH. It is possible that treatment with GnRH agonists and antagonists might be used to regulate gonadotrophin secretion in heifer calves and prevent the development of large (functionally dominant) follicles. Subsequent initiation of superstimulation when a pool of small gonadotrophinresponsive follicles are present on the ovaries, and maturing these follicles in synchrony in vivo, may allow a pool of oocytes at similar stages of maturation to be collected for in vitro procedures.

The first two experiments in this thesis examined the requirement of LH for oocyte maturation by treating calves with gonadotrophin hormone releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist and antagonist before and during superstimulation with FSH. Simultaneous treatment with a GnRH agonist during superstimulation of ovarian follicle growth with FSH tended to increase the number of follicles stimulated to grow and significantly increased the number of Grade A and Grade B oocytes collected. In a second experiment, treatment with a GnRH antagonist tended to increase blastocyst development rate after in vitro fertilisation. It was concluded from these findings that exposure of oocytes to pulsatile secretion of LH, and/or a 'pre-ovulatory like' surge release of LH, is not an obligatory requirement for oocyte growth and development in heifer calves.

A third experiment examined the effects of nutrition and growth rate on maturation of the reproductive endocrine axis and the response of calves to superstimulation of ovarian follicle growth with FSH. Heifer calves were raised on two planes of nutrition (relatively low and high) and subsequently superstimulated with FSH. The nutritional treatments resulted in a significant difference in growth rate between the two groups of heifers. However, there were no apparent differences in ovarian follicular responses to stimulation with FSH, oocytes recovered, or in vitro developmental competency of oocytes, between the two groups of heifers.

In the fourth experiment, in vitro developmental competency was compared between oocytes obtained from heifer calves superstimulated with FSH, heifer calves that had not undergone superstimulation and post-pubertal heifers and cows that had not been stimulated with FSH. There were no differences in developmental competency between Grade A and Grade B oocytes derived from the three groups of animals. This finding demonstrated that oocytes obtained from pre -pubertal heifers do not have an intrinsic reduced capacity for in vitro development compared with oocytes obtained from post -pubertal heifers.

The ultimate test of viability of embryos derived from heifer calves is the transfer to recipients and the birth of calves. The aim of the fifth experiment therefore was to test the viability of embryos derived from 10 week-old heifer calves in which ovarian follicular growth was superstimulated with FSH. Transfer of blastocysts produced from oocytes obtained from heifer calves to recipient sexually mature heifers resulted in the birth of normal calves.

In summary, the competency of oocytes collected from heifer calves from an early age has been well established in the series of experiments undertaken in this thesis. The use of superstimulation protocols with heifer calves pre-treated with a GnRH agonist or antagonists increased the number of Grade A and Grade B oocytes, and tended to increase the development to blastocyst post-fertilisation. Grade A and Grade B oocytes collected from heifer calves form blastocysts at rates comparable to oocytes collected from mature cows, and establish pregnancies which result in the birth of calves.

Hayes and Williams’ Family Law, now in its sixth edition, provides critical and case-focused discussion of the key legislation and debates affecting adults and children. The volume takes a critical approach to the subject and includes ‘talking points’ and focused ‘discussion questions’ throughout each chapter which highlight areas of debate or controversy. The introductory chapter within this edition provides a discussion of the law’s understanding of ‘family’ and the extent to which this has changed over time, a detailed overview of the meaning of private and family life within Article 8 of the ECHR, and a discussion of the Family Justice Review and subsequent developments. Part 1 of this edition, supplemented by the ‘Latest Developments’ section, outlines the most up-to-date statistics on the incidence of marriage, civil partnerships and divorce, discusses recent case law on the validity of marriage such as Hayatleh v Mofdy [2017] EWCA Civ 70 and K v K (Nullity: Bigamous Marriage) [2016] EWHC 3380 (Fam), and highlights the recent Supreme Court decision (In the Matter of an Application by Denise Brewster for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) [2017] 1 WLR 519) on the pension rights of unmarried cohabitants. It also considers the litigation concerning the prohibition of opposite-sex civil partnership registration from the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Steinfeld and Keidan v Secretary of State for Education [2017] EWCA Civ 81 to the important decision of the Supreme Court in R (on the application of Steinfeld and Keidan) (Application) v Secretary of State for International Development (in substitution for the Home Secretary and the Education Secretary) [2018] UKSC 32. This edition also provides an in-depth discussion of the recent Supreme Court decision in Owens v Owens [2018] UKSC 41 regarding the grounds for divorce and includes discussion of Thakkar v Thakkar [2016] EWHC 2488 (Fam) on the divorce procedure. Further, this edition also considers the flurry of cases in the area of financial provision on divorce such as Waggott v Waggott [2018] EWCA Civ 722; TAB v FC (Short Marriage: Needs: Stockpiling) [2016] EWHC 3285; FF v KF [2017] EWHC 1903 (Fam); BD v FD (Financial Remedies: Needs) [2016] EWHC 594 (Fam); Juffali v Juffali [2016] EWHC 1684 (Fam); AAZ v BBZ [2016] EWHC 3234 (Fam); Scatliffe v Scatliffe [2016] UKPC 36; WM v HM [2017] EWFC 25; Hart v Hart [2017] EWCA Civ 1306; Sharp v Sharp [2017] EWCA Civ 408; Work v Gray [2017] EWCA Civ 270, and Birch v Birch [2017] UKSC 53. It also considers the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Mills v Mills [2018] UKSC 38 concerning post-divorce maintenance obligations between former partners, and the Privy Council decision in Marr v Collie [2017] UKPC 17 relating to the joint name purchase by a cohabiting couple of investment property.Part 2 focuses on child law, examining the law on parenthood and parental responsibility, including the parental child support obligation. This edition includes discussion of new case law on provision of child maintenance by way of global financial orders (AB v CD (Jurisdiction: Global Maintenance Orders)[2017] EWHC 3164), new case law and legislative/policy developments on section 54 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (parental orders transferring legal parenthood in surrogacy arrangements), and new cases on removing and restricting parental responsibility (Re A and B (Children: Restrictions on Parental Responsibility: Radicalisation and Extremism) [2016] EWFC 40 and Re B and C (Change of Names: Parental Responsibility: Evidence) [2017] EWHC 3250 (Fam)). Orders regulating the exercise of parental responsibility are also examined, and this edition updates the discussion with an account of the new Practice Direction 12J (on contact and domestic abuse), and controversial case law addressing the tension between the paramountcy of the child’s welfare and the protected interests of a parent in the context of a transgender father’s application for contact with his children (Re M (Children) [2017] EWCA Civ 2164). Part 2 also examines the issue of international child abduction, including in this edition the Supreme Court’s latest decision, on the issue of repudiatory retention (Re C (Children) [2018] UKSC 8). In the public law, this edition discusses the Supreme Court’s clarification of the nature and scope of local authority accommodation under section 20 of the Children Act 1989 (Williams v London Borough of Hackney [2018] UKSC 37). In the law of adoption, several new cases involving children who have been relinquished by parents for adoption are examined (Re JL & AO (Babies Relinquished for Adoption),[2016] EWHC 440 (Fam) and see also Re M and N (Twins: Relinquished Babies: Parentage) [2017] EWFC 31, Re TJ (Relinquished Baby: Sibling Contact) [2017] EWFC 6, and Re RA (Baby Relinquished for Adoption: Final Hearing)) [2016] EWFC 47).

This chapter examines the regulation of assisted conception in the UK, which involves a detailed look at the legislation: the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, and the work of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). It examines: the licensing procedures through which clinics are inspected and authorized to perform certain procedures; access to treatment; consent to the use of gametes (sperm and eggs); gamete donation; rules governing the parentage of children; and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). It also considers mitochondrial transfer and genome editing.

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. This chapter discusses the regulation of assisted conception. It first examines the regulation of assisted conception in the UK, which involves a detailed look at the legislation: the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, and the work of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The chapter analyses: the licensing procedures through which clinics are inspected and authorized to perform certain procedures; access to treatment; consent to the use of gametes (sperm and eggs); gamete donation; rules governing the parentage of children; and preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). It also considers mitochondrial transfer and genome editing.