Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008^[1]
Act of Parliament
	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to amend the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 and the Surrogacy Arrangements Act 1985; to make provision about the persons who in certain circumstances are to be treated in law as the parents of a child; and for connected purposes.
Citation	2008 c. 22
Territorial extent	United Kingdom
Dates
Royal assent	13 November 2008
History of passage through Parliament
Text of statute as originally enacted
Revised text of statute as amended

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 (c. 22) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act constitutes a major review and update of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. The Guardian described the bill as a ‘landmark piece of legislation’ intended to bring UK fertility law in line with rapidly advancing scientific practices.^[2]

According to the Department of Health, the Act's key provisions are:^[3]

ensure that all human embryos outside the body—whatever the process used in their creation—are subject to regulation.

ensure regulation of "human-admixed" embryos created from a combination of human and animal genetic material for research.

ban sex selection of offspring for non-medical reasons. This puts into statute a ban on non-medical sex selection currently in place as a matter of HFEA policy. Sex selection is allowed for medical reasons—for example to avoid a serious disease that affects only males.

recognise same-sex couples as legal parents of children conceived through the use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos. These provisions enable, for example, the civil partner of a woman who carries a child via IVF to be recognised as the child’s legal parent.

retain a duty to take account of the welfare of the child in providing fertility treatment, but replace the reference to "the need for a father" with "the need for supportive parenting"—hence valuing the role of all parents

alter the restrictions on the use of HFEA-collected data to help enable follow-up research of infertility treatment.

The Bill's discussion in Parliament did not permit time to debate whether it should extend abortion rights under the Abortion Act 1967 to also cover Northern Ireland. The 2008 Act does not alter the status quo.^[4]

The Act also repealed and replaced the Human Reproductive Cloning Act 2001.

The inclusion of hybrid embryo research provisions led to intense moral debates in Parliament, with one faction praising the potential for life-saving therapies and another warning against ‘unforeseen consequences.’”^[5]

Under the act, new rules regarding the designation of a second parent in cases of IVF treatment came into force on 6 April 2009. Prior to these changes, UK law automatically recognized the husband in a married couple undergoing IVF as the child’s second legal parent. The 2008 Act extended this right to lesbian couples and single women, allowing them to nominate a second parent who was not necessarily a spouse or civil partner.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) advised prospective parents to consider delaying IVF treatment until the new regulations took effect, if they wished to take advantage of the updated second-parent provisions.^[6]