The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 revises and updates the existing legislation for assisted reproduction and makes changes to the regulation and licensing of the use of embryos in research and therapy.

The new Act includes provisions for research on different types of embryos and changes the definition of legal parenthood for cases involving assisted reproduction.

The Act is divided into three parts:

1. Amendments to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990
2. Parenthood
3. Miscellaneous and General

Read the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 [external website]

The main elements of the Act are:

• Ensuring that the creation and use of all human embryos outside the body - whatever the process used in their creation - are subject to regulation
• A ban on selecting the sex of offspring for non-medical reasons
• Retention of a duty to take account of "the welfare of the child" when providing fertility treatment, but removal of the reference to "the need for a father"
• Provisions to recognise same-sex couples as legal parents of children conceived through the use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos
• Altering restrictions on the use of Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFEA) collected data to make it easier to do follow-up research
• Provisions clarifying the scope of legitimate embryo research activities, including regulation of "inter-species embryos" (embryos combining human and animal material).

Timeline

The provisions of the Act are planned to roll out in three stages:

• Phase one: In April 2009 part 2 of the Act, the revised definitions of parenthood, take effect.
• Phase two: In October 2009 the amendments to the 1990 legislation take effect.
• Phase three: In April 2010 the parental orders take effect.