The Law and Assisted Reproduction in the United Kingdom and United States

The development, publicity and availability of new and assisted methods of human reproduction raise profound ethical, legal and medical concerns. As for any new medical technology, there is a need for research and experimentation. At the same time, because human life is involved, there are calls for ethical and legal evaluations and regulations. These new technologies have been developed and applied in different countries, each with different cultures and legal traditions. It is instructive to compare how different countries respond legally to such new technologies. A comparison between the United States and United Kingdom is particularly enlightening because both share a common law heritage and because assisted reproduction has significant historical roots in England