Medical Law: Text, Cases, and Materials

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In contrast, a common theme among our interviewees is a rejection of the assumption that altruistic surrogacy is morally superior to commercial surrogacy because there are fewer financial incentives. Indeed, it was noted that there are aspects of altruistic surrogacy that might be described as coercive. For example, Beth had undergone a radical hysterectomy as part of her treatment for cervical cancer and, after an unsuccessful surrogacy arrangement in Australia, she travelled to California for an arrangement involving an egg donor and a surrogate mother. Beth found the assistance of the agency in California to be vital to the whole process. She was strongly critical of the Australian system and did not accept that altruistic surrogacy was less coercive than the commercial arrangements available in California:

Behavioural economists have additionally pointed out that when they interpret information about risk, it is normal for people to be over-optimistic and over-confident. Over-optimism, as Williams explains: With Huseyin Naci et al ‘Generating comparative evidence on new drugs and devices before approval’ (2020) 395 The Lancet 986-997. Regulating Embryo Research: A Regulator’s Perspective’ in Mark Flear et al (eds) European Law and New Health Technologies(Oxford University Press, 2013) 275-281. Jill Peay'Mental Health, Mental Disabilities and Crime' in A. Liebling, S. Maruna and L. McAra (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Criminology6th Editon, (2017) [FORTHCOMING]Coverage of the proposals set out in the Law Commissions' consultation on reform of the law on surrogacy Using information disclosure as a consumer protection technique rests on the assumption that the average consumer has the capacity to process information and act on it, and that it is only atypical vulnerable consumers who need special protection. Yet, as Howells points out, ‘The truth is that we are all to some extent vulnerable, because of the limitations of the human mind.’ 50 Oren-Gill and Ben-Shahar explain that: There is also a mismatch between the view that healthcare professionals have ‘a key role to play in ‘educating’ people about possible risks’, 55 and the fact that healthcare professionals are seldom the first port of call for information. If people seek out information via Google, Facebook, and internet chatrooms, there may be little opportunity for clinicians to educate them about risks and potential pitfalls, a problem which is, as we see in the following section, exacerbated by domestic laws which criminalise CBR, and hence deter patients from incriminating themselves in front of healthcare professionals. V. THE ROLE OF DOMESTIC REPRODUCTIVE SERVICE PROVIDERS

Provides a clear and accessible analysis of the various ways in which human reproduction is regulated. A comprehensive exposition of the law relating to birth control, abortion, pregnancy, childbirth, surrogacy and assisted conception is accompanied by an exploration of some of the complex ethical dilemmas that emerge when one of the most intimate areas of human life is subjected to regulatory control. Throughout the book, two principal themes recur. First, particular emphasis is placed upon the special difficulties that arise in regulating new technological intervention in all aspects of the reproductive process. Second, the concept of reproductive autonomy is both interrogated and defended. Winner of the 2002 Society of Legal Scholars’ Annual Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship by a Young Legal Scholar. The social and legal developments which we have mentioned point away from a model of the relationship between the doctor and the patient based on medical paternalism. They also point away from a model based on a view of the patient as being entirely dependent on information provided by the doctor. What they point towards is an approach to the law which, instead of treating patients as placing themselves in the hands of their doctors (and then being prone to sue their doctors in the event of a disappointing outcome), treats them so far as possible as adults who are capable of understanding that medical treatment is uncertain of success and may involve risks, accepting responsibility for the taking of risks affecting their own lives, and living with the consequences of their choices. 10 Challenging the comparison in Montgomery between patients and “consumers exercising choices"'(2021) Medical Law Review online first I think you needed to — I think the important thing for intended parents is to understand what environment they were operating in, but I think because there wasn’t really explicit laws to refer to, that’s why I think engaging with lawyers either here or there was less useful.Extensive past experience in consumer protection suggests that standard consumer ‘informed consent’ techniques fail. They are not read nor used, and they are beyond most people’s care or understanding… People do not pay attention to standard forms, neither long nor short, in plain language or in legalese, written or oral, separately signed or unified into one document, handed out in advance or ex post. 51

Legalising assisted dying: cross purposes and unintended consequences’ (2018) 41 Dalhousie Law Journal 60-91. Medical Law : Text, Cases, and Materialsoffers all of the explanation, commentary, and extracts from cases and key materials that students need to gain a thorough understanding of this complex topic. Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below. Brown P, Stahl D, Appiah-Kusi E, Brewer R, Watts M, Peay J, et al. (2018) 'Fitness to plead: Development and validation of a standardised assessment instrument'. PLoS ONE13(4): e0194332 The law and DIY Assisted Conception’ in Kirsty Horsey (ed) R egulating Assisted Conception (Routledge, 2015), 31-49In contrast to surrogacy, the Australian prohibitions on commercial trading in gametes are far more specifically worded, criminalising only the giving and receipt of valuable consideration, rather than potentially implicating anyone involved in ‘facilitating’ the practice. This has meant that some fertility doctors are willing to recommend overseas egg donation and we found that some even facilitate shared care, with the provision of scans and tests domestically before the woman travels, as well as follow up care. Thus, if Dian had told her fertility doctor that she was travelling to receive paid egg donation rather than to pursue commercial surrogacy, she would be likely to have received domestic medical assistance and advice. In a parallel vein, general practitioners (who are not covered by the same ethical guidelines as fertility specialists) were reported by our interviewees to be assisting patients with blood and semen tests in preparation for overseas surrogacy, as well as with prescription medications and blood tests in advance and pregnancy tests post-travel for those receiving egg donation abroad. causes people to underestimate their likelihood of negative events, to overestimate the likelihood of positive events, and to be overly confident in each of these erroneous judgments. It also distorts people’s reactions to explicit and accurate probabilistic information. 59 Yeah, Umar has already cut out the pictures and cropped them. [Laughs] So yes we will tell the child who they are. Like I said we’ll probably inform the egg donor or just message her on Facebook to say thank you and this is what you’ve done for us. We want to keep in touch somehow if you’re happy to. But I guess that’s her call. But yeah, we’re more than happy to do that. It would be possible to regard reproductive travel as an aberration, relied upon in extremis by people who are prevented, either by law or de facto, from accessing reproductive services at home. In response to the increasing numbers of people travelling for reproductive purposes, enabling more people to access local fertility services might therefore be a plausible and laudable regulatory objective. 61 But while we would support measures to improve access to services, not least because these might also meet the needs of those who cannot afford to travel, we would like to suggest that we should also be interested in what local fertility providers and regulators can learn from the experiences of reproductive travellers. With I Glenn Cohen, ‘Introduction to the Right to Procreate and Reproductive Technologies’ in Tamara Hervey and David Orentlicher (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Health Law (Oxford UP, 2020)