This conference, organised by Cambridge Family Law together with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Family Law, explored a range of issues and challenges surrounding the law and practice of national and international surrogacy from a practical perspective. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics and other participants will discuss the legal consequences of the rise in surrogacy arrangements and, in particular, reproductive tourism.

For more information about the conference see:

https://www.family.law.cam.ac.uk/research-and-eventspast-events/international-surrogacy-forum-2019

This recording is from Part VII - The Way Forward - General discussion, with Sir James Munby summing up the conference with some concluding remarks.

Sir James Lawrence Munby is a retired English judge who was President of the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales.

This conference, organised by Cambridge Family Law together with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Family Law, explored a range of issues and challenges surrounding the law and practice of national and international surrogacy from a practical perspective. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics and other participants will discuss the legal consequences of the rise in surrogacy arrangements and, in particular, reproductive tourism.

For more information about the conference see:

https://www.family.law.cam.ac.uk/research-and-eventspast-events/international-surrogacy-forum-2019

This recording is from Part II – The Tolerant Approach, with Colin Rogerson (Dawson Cornwell, London, UK) as commentator.

Colin Rogerson is a Solicitor Advocate and Senior Associate at Dawson Cornwell. He has a background in children law but much of his practice is focussed on the law relating to surrogacy and parentage following assisted reproduction. His work in this specialist field has been recognised by both the Chambers UK Guide and the Legal 500, where he is described as "an unsung hero both domestically and internationally particularly in the area of surrogacy, parentage and assisted reproduction." He has represented intended parents, surrogates, and surrogate-born children in parental order proceedings before the Family Courts in England & Wales and has appeared in a number of reported decisions in this field. Colin is an active international member of the American Bar Association’s Section of Family Law, Assisted Reproductive Technology Committee and is the only lawyer from Europe on the ART Executive Council. He is also an ART Fellow of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproductive Technology Attorneys and a member of the UK’s LGBT Family Law Institute.

This conference, organised by Cambridge Family Law together with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Family Law, explored a range of issues and challenges surrounding the law and practice of national and international surrogacy from a practical perspective. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics and other participants will discuss the legal consequences of the rise in surrogacy arrangements and, in particular, reproductive tourism.

For more information about the conference see:

https://www.family.law.cam.ac.uk/research-and-eventspast-events/international-surrogacy-forum-2019

This recording is from Part II – The Tolerant Approach, with Claire Fenton-Glynn (Cambridge, UK) giving the UK perspective.

Claire is a University Lecturer and Fellow in Law at Jesus College, University of Cambridge. She specialises in human rights and the protection of children, in particular focusing on issues such as intercountry adoption, international surrogacy, and cross-border child protection, as well as children's rights under the European Court of Human Rights. At the core of this research is the interaction between international and regional human rights instruments and domestic law, and the way in which these frameworks can be used to implement children's rights. Her first book, "Children's Rights in Intercountry Adoption" was awarded the Inner Temple Book Prize for New Authors, as well as the Faculty of Law's Yorke Prize.

Claire has worked as a consultant on issues concerning child protection, human rights, and rule of law with organisations such as the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, Save the Children and Avocats sans Frontières. She is the co-editor of ‘Eastern and Western Perspectives on Surrogacy’ which was published in 2019.’

This conference, organised by Cambridge Family Law together with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Family Law, explored a range of issues and challenges surrounding the law and practice of national and international surrogacy from a practical perspective. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics and other participants will discuss the legal consequences of the rise in surrogacy arrangements and, in particular, reproductive tourism.

For more information about the conference see:

https://www.family.law.cam.ac.uk/research-and-eventspast-events/international-surrogacy-forum-2019

This recording is from Part IV – The Regulatory Approach, with Robynne Friedman (Robynne Friedman Attorneys, Johannesburg, South Africa) commentating and giving a personal perspective.

Robynne Friedman is a surrogacy law specialist practitioner in the Republic of South Africa, practising for her own account. Robynne has assisted in excess of four hundred parents with the legal and procedural aspects of surrogacy in the RSA. She has been involved in leading surrogacy cases that have culminated in legal precedents in RSA. Robynne is a mother through surrogacy and through her personal experience has been able to assist her clients on a highly personal level. Robynne has founded a Non- Profit Organisation which offers support and advice to infertile persons and surrogate mothers on all aspects of surrogacy.

Robynne has been involved in the first constitutional court case involving surrogacy in the RSA in an attempt to broaden the interpretation of the genetic link requirement of the Children’s Act 38 of 2005. Robynne has presented papers on the working practical aspects of surrogacy at local and international family law conferences. Robynne has spoken at Reproductive medicine conferences and embryologist meetings locally. Robynne has spoken extensively to the media on the subject of surrogacy in attempt to educate the population on surrogacy in an endeavour to remove cultural taboos surrounding the practice of surrogacy in the RSA.

Robynne offers support and guidance to the Reproductive Medicine Clinics in RSA on the legalities of surrogacy and gamete donation.

This conference, organised by Cambridge Family Law together with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Family Law, explored a range of issues and challenges surrounding the law and practice of national and international surrogacy from a practical perspective. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics and other participants will discuss the legal consequences of the rise in surrogacy arrangements and, in particular, reproductive tourism.

For more information about the conference see:

https://www.family.law.cam.ac.uk/research-and-eventspast-events/international-surrogacy-forum-2019

This recording is from Part IV – The Regulatory Approach, with Julia Sloth-Nielsen (Western Cape, South Africa/Leiden, The Netherlands) giving the South African perspective.

Professor Julia Sloth-Nielsen holds a chair at the Faculty of Law, University of the Western cape, and a chair in children's rights in the developing world a the University of Leiden. She has published widely on various aspects of children's rights and family law, and contributed to law reform in many southern and eastern African countries.

In South Africa, she was a member of the project committee of the South Africa Law Reform Commission that prepared the Children's Act 38 of 2005 and the Child Justice Act 75 of 2008. She has recently published on aspects of surrogacy in South Africa.

This conference, organised by Cambridge Family Law together with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Family Law, explored a range of issues and challenges surrounding the law and practice of national and international surrogacy from a practical perspective. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics and other participants will discuss the legal consequences of the rise in surrogacy arrangements and, in particular, reproductive tourism.

For more information about the conference see:

https://www.family.law.cam.ac.uk/research-and-eventspast-events/international-surrogacy-forum-2019

This recording is from Part V - The Reality - Empirical Research Findings, with Vasanti Jadva (Cambridge/UK) speaking on 'The psychological wellbeing of surrogates and their families'.

Dr Vasanti Jadva’s BSc in Psychology was from City University, where she later worked as a Research Assistant at the Family and Child Psychology Research Centre on a project looking at families created using reproductive technologies. During this time she also conducted her PhD which examined sex differences in 12-24 month-old infants' preferences for colours, toys and shapes. She joined the Centre for Family Research in March 2006. She is currently a Senior Research Associate and an Affiliated Lecturer at the Department of Psychology and a member of the National Gamete Donation Trust’s advisory council.

This conference, organised by Cambridge Family Law together with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Family Law, explored a range of issues and challenges surrounding the law and practice of national and international surrogacy from a practical perspective. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics and other participants will discuss the legal consequences of the rise in surrogacy arrangements and, in particular, reproductive tourism.

For more information about the conference see:

https://www.family.law.cam.ac.uk/research-and-eventspast-events/international-surrogacy-forum-2019

This recording is from Part V - The Reality - Empirical Research Findings, with Lopamudra Goswami (Griffiths University/Australia) 'Understanding the perspectives of Indian surrogate mothers on surrogacy'.

Lopamudra Goswami is an Indian research scholar currently pursuing her doctoral studies at Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, Australia. Her research area over the last 4 years has been with Indian surrogate mothers in Gujarat. Her doctoral work is also an extension of the same and she is now working at building a community based mental health model for the surrogate mothers.

Lopamudra has had extensive teaching experience at several masters programs in Bangalore, India prior to moving to Australia. She has field experience of being with the mothers, interacting with them and knowing them beyond the realms of being surrogates.

This conference, organised by Cambridge Family Law together with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Family Law, explored a range of issues and challenges surrounding the law and practice of national and international surrogacy from a practical perspective. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics and other participants will discuss the legal consequences of the rise in surrogacy arrangements and, in particular, reproductive tourism.

For more information about the conference see:

https://www.family.law.cam.ac.uk/research-and-eventspast-events/international-surrogacy-forum-2019

This recording is from Part V - The Reality - Empirical Research Findings, with Debra Wilson (Canterbury/New Zealand) speaking on 'The public perspective: empirical research into opinions on surrogacy in New Zealand'.

Debra Wilson is an Associate Professor in Law at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. She specialises in medical law, with a particular focus on issues of regulation where there is an overlap with commercial or contract law.

Debra has been a Erskine Visiting Fellow at Oxford University (2012), a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University (2014), a Visiting Researcher at the Brocher Foundation in Geneva (2014), and an Erskine Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge (2016). She is currently the Principal Investigator of a project entitled 'Rethinking Surrogacy Laws', funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation.

This conference, organised by Cambridge Family Law together with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Family Law, explored a range of issues and challenges surrounding the law and practice of national and international surrogacy from a practical perspective. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics and other participants will discuss the legal consequences of the rise in surrogacy arrangements and, in particular, reproductive tourism.

For more information about the conference see:

https://www.family.law.cam.ac.uk/research-and-eventspast-events/international-surrogacy-forum-2019

This recording is from Part I – The Prohibitive Approach, with a personal experience shared by the Mennesson family.

The Mennesson family, whose surrogacy journey in the USA has resulted in a 19-year battle to secure the recognition of their family in France. In 2006, they created Association Clara, which now has over 2000 members. This association defends all children born through surrogacy and promotes legalization of Surrogacy in France.

This conference, organised by Cambridge Family Law together with the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) and the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Family Law, explored a range of issues and challenges surrounding the law and practice of national and international surrogacy from a practical perspective. Practitioners, lawmakers, academics and other participants will discuss the legal consequences of the rise in surrogacy arrangements and, in particular, reproductive tourism.

For more information about the conference see:

https://www.family.law.cam.ac.uk/research-and-eventspast-events/international-surrogacy-forum-2019

This recording is from Part I – The Prohibitive Approach, with Caroline Mécary (Avocate aux barreaux de Paris et du Québec, Paris/France) as commentator.

Caroline Mecary is an attorney, member of the Bar of Paris since 1991. In 1993, she established her own law firm devoted to all sorts of families’ rights.

She was the first French attorney to defend homoparental families. In this field, she obtained some great success before both national and international courts such as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Hence, she allowed a lesbian to have the right to adopt (ECHR, 22 January 2008, E.B c/ France). She enabled children resulting for a surrogacy to have their birth certificate transcribed by the French registry office (ECHR, 21 July 2016, Foulon & Bouvet c/ France; ECHR, 19 July 2017, Laborie c/ France). She also obtained the right for a same-sex couple to enter in a civil partnership (ECHR, 7 November 2013, Vallianatos c/ Greece).