Key Changes in the Regulation of Assisted Reproduction Introduced by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 revised and amended the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 and introduced some new provisions relating to assisted reproduction. In some respects it closed perceived loopholes in the original 1990 Act, and it also updated the law in the light of changing views on issues such as whether same-sex couples should be recognized as the legal parents of children conceived by assisted reproduction. While, in some ways, the 1990 Act had stood the test of time well, ‘there were a number of new scientific advances, including the birth of Dolly the sheep, the isolation of the first embryonic stem cell line and the possibility of creating animal/human hybrid embryos’ that made a new Act in this area necessary.1 In this eighth Five-Minute Focus on Law we set out and explain some of the key changes that the 2008 Act has made to the original 1990 Act. Before this, it is worth briefly explaining what the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Acts regulate