U3D: Beyond borders
The changing landscape of egg donation in Europe: evidence from the UK, Spain and Belgium
Professor Nicky Hudson, Professor of Medical Sociology, De Montfort University, UK
Nicky Hudson is Professor of Medical Sociology and Director of the Centre for Reproduction Research; an interdisciplinary centre of expertise at De Montfort University focused on the social, cultural and political aspects of human reproduction. Her research explores experiences of reproductive health, the development and use of a range of reproductive technologies, and the social contexts in which they exist. Her current work focuses on egg donation, direct-to-consumer genetic testing and its impact on donor conception, and the use of pre-conception expanded carrier screening. She has received funded from the Economic and Social Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, the NIHR and the Foundation for Sociology of Health and Illness.
Her research has been influential in the development of policy in the regulation and management of infertility and its treatment in the UK and Europe. She is a member of the British Fertility Society’s Law Policy and Ethics Special Interest Group and has been invited to give evidence to policy and professional bodies such as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, Royal College of Nursing, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, and the International Infertility Counselling Organisation. She is co-editor of the Emerald Series in Reproduction, Culture and Society.
AHR Legislation in Ireland – A long and winding road
Professor Mary Wingfield, Former Clinical Director, Merrion Fertility Clinic, Dublin, Ireland
Presentation learning objectives:
- What it is like to practise AHR without national legislation
- Landmark AHR legal cases in Ireland
- Development of AHR legislation 2000 to 2022
- Current AHR Bill 2022
Professor Wingfield worked for almost 30 years as a Consultant Obstetrician Gynaecologist at the National Maternity Hospital, Dublin where she established Merrion Merrion Fertility Clinic in 1999. She is Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University College Dublin, and Adjunct Professor in the School of Medicine at Trinity College Dublin. She was a founding member and past President of the Irish Fertility Society and served on the government-appointed Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction. She is currently Chair of the Fertility Preservation Subgroup of the National Cancer Control Program (NCCP) Children Adolescents/Young Adults Clinical Leads Group.
Professor Wingfiled has written several fertility-related position papers for the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, has acted as an expert witness in High Court cases regarding assisted reproduction and has spoken at the Oireachtas regarding AHR legislation and surrogacy. She authored The Fertility Handbook, Gill Press 2017, a guide to fertility and infertility. Her current clinical and research interests are subfertility in all its facets, including the development of national frameworks and legislation, equitable access to fertility treatment, fertility preservation, endometriosis and implantation.