Tag: UK

Protecting Health Privacy is a Royal Pain

Bobby Stroup Leave a comment

Heightened Scrutiny of Your Royal Highness

On Sunday, March 10, tabloids were in quite a frenzy when the British royal family published a photoshopped picture of Catherine, princess of Wales. The hubbub was extra hubbubbly, because this was the first official photo after the princess had abdominal surgery this past January. The order of events caused some people to speculate the edits indicated there was something to hide about the princess’s health status.

Shortly after the public reaction, the princess issued an apology for the edits. Sadly, less than two weeks later, the rumors were confirmed to be true: Princess Catherine did have a health problem. She had been diagnosed with cancer and had commenced preventative chemotherapy. As part of this announcement, Princess Catherine bravely encouraged the public, “For everyone facing this disease in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope. You are not alone.” Read More

Close up of surgery team operating.

Access to Uterus Transplantation and the Workplace

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Natasha Hammond-Browning

Uterus transplantation first hit the headlines in 2014, with the birth of the first baby born following a uterus transplant. This first birth in Sweden has led to trials worldwide. Most recently, in August 2023, the United Kingdom saw its first uterus transplant. In the United States, the University of Alabama (UAB) Medicine uterus transplant program is the first program to offer uterus transplantation outside of a clinical trial, and the first birth in that program was in May 2023.

While recent estimates of future uterus transplants are relatively small — for instance, Womb Transplant UK estimates that between 20-30 uterus transplants could be performed annually — the increasing number of uterus transplant recipients should not be ignored. In particular, questions of access and the workplace rights of those undergoing this surgery are important to consider. This post will briefly lay out some of the issues that may arise for potential recipients and their partners in the workplace.

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Scales with the center depicted as an egg being fertilized through ivf.

Surrogacy and Employment Rights in the UK    

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Zaina Mahmoud and Kirsty Horsey

At the end of March 2023, the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission published their joint Report, Building Families Through Surrogacy: A New Law, outlining recommendations for a new regulatory regime governing surrogacy in the UK, including a new route to (legal) parenthood for intended parents (IPs), referred to as “the new pathway” (para 1.10). Chapter 15 of the Report provides an overview of the consequential impact of surrogacy on other areas of law — most relevantly here, employment law.

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Out of office - memo on office desk with glasses, pen, clock, paperclip.

Fertility Leave: Seeking Assisted Reproductive Technology as an Employee in the UK

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Manna Mostaghim

Fertility leave — employer-sanctioned time off for fertility treatment appointments — is becoming a feature of modern employment relationships in the UK. Some public and private sector employers in the UK have fertility leave policies within their organizations; however, currently there is no “statutory right to time off for fertility appointments” in UK law. As of March 20th, 2023, a private members’ bill (the Fertility Treatment (Employment Rights) Bill) has had its second reading in the House of Commons to codify the right for employers to be required to “allow employees to take time off from work for appointments for fertility treatment.” But, as it stands, employees in the UK still require the beneficent support of their employers to receive support and fertility leave in their workplaces.

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Newborn infant incubator boxes in a hospital corridor.

Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023: Some Questions Raised by Artificial Amniotic and Placenta Technology

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Anna Nelson

Traditionally, maternity and other parental leave protections have been predicated on expectations of linear and uncomplicated experience of birth. This has created challenges when babies are required to spend time in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU), especially where these stays are prolonged. In response to these concerns the UK recently passed the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023.

The passing of the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 was a significant step forward in labor law rights for those whose infants require a hospital stay upon delivery (though the provisions within it are not expected to come into effect until April 2025). This Act created statutory entitlement to up to 12 weeks of neonatal care leave, and pay for qualifying parents, as well as providing protection from redundancy during this time. While the right to neonatal care leave is a “day one right,” the statutory right to Neonatal Care pay will be contingent upon meeting minimum service (26 weeks) and pay criteria. This means that not all parents will be protected from the financial worries associated with taking leave during their child’s stay in hospital.

In this blog, I will look at whether the protections within this Act would be sufficient if Artificial Amniotic and Placenta Technology (AAPT) were to become available for use in humans. AAPT, sometimes called “artificial womb technology,” is a developing technological innovation which would “closely reproduce[s] the environment of the womb” so as to support neonatal maturation, and reduce the mortality and morbidity rates associated with extremely premature birth. This is an expansive topic, and the purpose of this blog is to identify some key considerations and questions rather than to provide comprehensive answers!

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Imbalanced scales icon on pink background.

Conceiving a New Interpretation of Equality Law for Those Undergoing Fertility Treatments

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Michelle Weldon-Johns

An increasing number of people in the UK undergo assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments annually to conceive or to preserve fertility. HFEA data show that in the UK in 2019, nearly 53,000 persons received 68,975 cycles of IVF, 5,694 cycles of donor insemination treatment, 2,396 egg freeze cycles and 8,174 embryos were stored. This has significant implications for working persons, with the requirements to attend often time-sensitive appointments and undergo, at times, invasive fertility treatments that have an impact on availability for work, not to mention physical and mental effects. Nevertheless, those engaged in ART treatment find themselves outside the traditional boundaries of equality law protection. This is concerning given the potential for treatment to interfere with work and/or workplace performance, and their resulting vulnerability to discrimination and/or dismissal.

The UK Equality Act 2010 extends protection only to those who satisfy one of nine specific protected characteristics, with sex, pregnancy and maternity, and disability most relevant here. However, none of these characteristics alone offers sufficient protection for all those engaged in ART treatments. Nevertheless, equality law offers some possibilities for the future if developed appropriately.

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figurine with a void shape of a child and family of parents with a child. Surrogacy concept.

Forced Gifting: English Surrogacy, Gestational Labor, and the Inequality of Choice

The Petrie-Flom Center Staff Leave a comment

By Lucas Taylor

Surrogacy, the practice in which one party (the surrogate) gestates a fetus on behalf of another pair/person (the intended parent/s or IPs), has sparked academic debates regarding gender equality and bodily integrity in the face of both commercial and altruistic agreements. I re-engage with this topic by challenging how the capacity of the surrogate to choose may be restricted under English and Welsh law. This post does not seek to argue against the practice of altruistic surrogacy. Instead, it seeks to highlight, through the lens of Social Reproduction Theory, that central to the legal framework is a highly gendered devaluation of labor which undermines the potential for surrogates to fully exercise choice in relation to their gestational labor.

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Vial and syringe.

Challenges in COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout: Lessons from the UK

Sravya Chary Leave a comment

By Sravya Chary

Just over a week after the United Kingdom became the first Western country to authorize the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech for emergency use, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) followed suit on December 11, 2020.

This lag may prove beneficial. The United States can and should cautiously assess the United Kingdom’s vaccination strategy to avoid challenges that may impede its ability to control the virus.

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