You don’t have to look any further than your news feed to see how advances in embryology have shifted the focus of IVF conversations from the expertise of the physician to the delicate work of the IVF lab. And it’s not just REIs and patients who are talking. Legal and medical scholars publishing papers decrying the lack of laboratory regulation offer valuable insights to both lawyers and laboratories. While personal injury attorneys heedlessly blogging on “common IVF errors” and “reproductive negligence” compete with the legitimate educational materials provided by physicians and erode trust between physicians and patients. And then there is the media.

In September of 2019, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) officially updated the Code of Practice to include guidelines for the safe and effective use of electronic signatures for recording and storing informed consent. Up until that time, the HFEA had only addressed paper-based consenting for use in completing mandatory HFEA forms.