A junior Government minister said he is “not aware of any plans” to legislate in the area of assisted human reproduction (AHR), despite a commitment in the Programme for Government to do so.

A leading medical law expert has described as “unconscionable” and “contrary to the best interests of children”, the Government’s failure to introduce legislation governing fertility treatments.

The Government is under pressure to legislate for surrogacy following a High Court ruling that shatters traditional interpretations of who is legally a mother.

An expert in assisted human reproduction has told the High Court the failure by Government to introduce legislation is “very disappointing” and “tragic”.

Twenty years on from the X case, the Government must act to bring certainty to abortion law, writes Jennifer Schweppe

Italian gynaecologist Severino Antinori grabbed headlines in the ’90s when he used IVF and egg donation to help menopausal women get pregnant — in 1993, a 59-year-old from Britain gave birth to twins.

While the State has issued guidelines to parents entering surrogacy accords, the law has not been updated, writes Conall Ó Fátharta

MEDICAL and legal experts tasked with setting out a blueprint to regulate the area of assisted human reproduction have called on the Government to take responsibility and introduce legislation in the interest of patient safety.

Guidelines for assisted human reproduction must be cemented by legislation, writes Catherine Shanahan.

BLOOD banks could be transformed by a scientific breakthrough that enables human skin cells to be converted directly into blood.

WHEN it comes to interference in the intimate details of people’s lives, religious zealots are in the premier league.

A SUPREME Court ruling that frozen embryos do not have an automatic right to life will not lead to wholesale destruction of stored embryos, according to the fertility clinic at the centre of the ruling.

THE GOVERNMENT is under mounting pressure to finally enact legislation on assisted human reproduction after a landmark Supreme Court ruling relating to frozen embryos stated life for the “unborn” only begins when a foetus or a fertilised egg is implanted in the womb.

THE Supreme Court has criticised as “disturbing” the state’s continuing failure to enact laws to regulate fertility treatment.

FORMER Minister for Health, Micheál Martin forwarded the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction (CAHR) report to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children four years ago but its members failed to ever publish a report on proposed legislation.

THE Supreme Court is due to rule today on an appeal by a woman in her 40s against the High Court’s refusal to order a Dublin fertility clinic to release three frozenembryos to her for the purpose of pregnancy against her estranged husband’s wishes.

A CANCER survivor who lost her womb to the disease is appealing for a surrogate mother to make her dream of having a baby come true.

AN EMBRYO created as a result of fertility treatment has no legal status here and is not entitled to constitutional protection unless implanted in a woman’s womb and may be legally destroyed prior to any such implantation, lawyers for the state have told the Supreme Court.

A SUPREME Court judge has described as “extraordinary” the failure of Government to take any steps at all to enact laws to regulate fertility treatment here.

EVEN those who do not believe that the early human embryo is a full human being would sacrifice the embryo in the interests of advancing biomedical research only with misgivings.

THE Irish Council for Bioethics (ICB) recently issued an opinion which recommended that frozen IVF embryos could be destroyed for research to generate human embryonic stem cell lines.

THE mother-of-two who lost a High Court battle with her estranged husband over the rights to their frozen embryos is to ask the Supreme Court to grant an early hearing of her appeal.

“FRINGE” pro-life activists were last night blamed for threatening letters and shotgun cartridges being sent to two government ministers and at least two fertility clinics.

MANY Irish women having babies by IVF are not being told they can have a test to identify if the embryo has a fatal deformity, according to a European-wide report.

IF Jennifer Bell’s parents had met first, she might never have been born.

SOME of the last pictures of Jacqueline Rushton show her playing with her niece.

THE Government is trying to avoid a row with the pro-life movement in the run-up to the election.

A LEADING expert on medical ethics said legislation and regulation was essential to govern the activities of fertility clinics and clarify the rights of the embryos they produce, store and implant.

THE High Court’s preliminary ruling in the dispute between an estranged couple over the fate of three frozen embryos may be relatively straightforward but it puts the spotlight on how important it is for such agreements to be copper-fastened.

OPPOSITION parties staged a walkout of an Oireachtas committee yesterday in protest at the Government’s lack of progress in introducing legislation to regulate IVF treatment.

A LANDMARK legal action to decide the fate of three frozen embryos is due to be heard in the High Court today.

ENTERPRISE Minister Micheál Martin yesterday said he would not seek to block EU funding for stem cell research that takes place outside Ireland.

“WITHOUT a vision, the people perish,” the Book of Proverbs tells us.

THE Government last night poured cold water on reports it would hold a referendum this year on the hugely emotive issue of when life begins.

UP to 8,000 couples attend Irish fertility clinics every year which results in 1,000 babies being born by assisted human reproduction techniques.

Claire O’Sullivan

ASSISTED reproduction is a booming industry in this country, with nine clinics opening in the past 15 years.

FOR many reasons, some related to religion, there is a feeling among people with infertility that IVF is not the magic answer for everyone.

DURING the 2002 abortion referendum, Dana said the wording was to facilitate future human embryo research.

IT is shocking that the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction would seek to stifle debate on embryonic research by inviting only a limited number of journalists to the launch of its report recently.

HARDLY a week goes by but there are new stories which illustrate the fragility of human life at the extremes of conception and death.

THE GOVERNMENT is expected to fast-track legislation covering some of the recommendations of the report of the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction (CAHR) in order to meet European deadlines.

THE report of the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction makes 40 recommendations for the regulation of procedures and standards across a wide variety of reproductive and fertility-related treatments and research.

A CONSTITUTIONAL referendum on the rights of the unborn child may be required if the Government implements key recommendations from the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction.