Legal Update: IVF and legal parenthood

The president of the Family Division recently issued his 15th judgment in the set of "Alphabet cases" before the High Court brought by groups of parents whose legal parenthood is uncertain as a result of widespread administrative errors at fertility clinics across the UK. On 6 October 2016 the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) published its annual report setting out detailed guidance for clinics to learn lessons from the failures and improve practice.

The law relating to legal parentage for a child conceived through IVF treatment is contained in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. It sets out that if an unmarried woman is having IVF treatment using a sperm donor, and wants her partner (man or a woman) to be the child's second legal parent they must both give notice of their consent in writing and sign it before the treatment starts. Both the woman and her partner must also be given adequate information and offered counselling. In practice, this statutory requirement is often met using consent forms. The birth mother signs Form WP consenting to the partner being the legal parent, and her partner signs Form PP consenting to being the legal parent. This applies to any unmarried couple who conceive at a licensed clinic in the UK after 6 April 2009.