Abstract

The interests and welfare of children born with the assistance of ART are required to be addressed under State ART legislation and professional guidelines. However, these provide little guidance on what is meant by ‘interests’ or ‘welfare’. By examining the legislation, guidelines and regulating authorities’ own documents, together with recent court decisions at two frontiers relevant to ART, claims arising following negligent pre-implantation genetic diagnosis and posthumous reproduction, this article considers how far to go in interpreting the terms. It concludes that the courts have provided little guidance on the issue and therefore society must consider some difficult issues.