Progress Educational Trust will host 2021 fertility conference online

The Progress Educational Trust will host 20 fertility experts at its annual conference taking place on December 1

The 2021 conference, which will be held online is entitled Reproducing Regulation: Who regulates fertility and how? will delve into law and regulation surrounding fertility-related medicine and research.

There will be a multitude of expert practitioners and opinion leaders from the scientific, medical, legal, and regulatory communities are coming together for a full day of knowledge sharing and debate.

Director of PET, Sarah Norcross, said: “We are delighted to have brought together so many key thinkers to explore the regulation of reproductive medicine and research, in the UK and beyond.

“In particular, the conference will examine whether laws need to be changed – and if so how – in light of recent scientific innovations and evolving views of what constitutes a family.”

Speakers will include Dr Raj Arthur, chairman of the British Fertility Society, Julia Chain, head of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority(HFEA), Natalie Sutherland, partner at Burgess Mee Family Law and Dr Nathalie Vermeulen, senior research specialist at European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology(ESHRE).

The organisers have stressed that the conference will be recorded

Sarah said: “’To harness the energy and spontaneity of live discussion, we will not be creating a recording of this conference. We would love members of the press with an interest in this increasingly important area to join us and bring the debate to the widest possible audience.”

The day is divided into topic areas focusing on UK-specific law and regulation, the situation in other jurisdictions, the changing form of the family, and new scientific frontiers where the basic assumptions underpinning this field are being challenged.

Speakers include the Chairs of both the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.

Full details of the speakers and sessions can be found at www.progress.org.uk/conference2021