Government Update! A little update from Wes and Mike…
We wanted to update you all with regards to yesterday’s meeting at The Houses of Parliament that Wes and I attended related to the APPG Surrogacy Law Reform chaired by Andrew Pearcy MP.
Disappointingly -and unsurprisingly – minutes before the APPG was due to start, the Health Minister Maria Caulfield made a statement via the Scottish Law Commissioner, Gillian Black. Thanks were given for the works involved and Maria Caulfield mentioned that the bill is with TheDepartment of Health and Social Care, and other stakeholders. In conclusion however she said… ‘parliamentary time does not allow for these proposals to be taken forward at the moment’. No surprise considering the current state of parliament and the desperate need for a general election to evoke some real change. Gillian Black was noticeably disappointed, as was everyone else in the room.
Afterwards, we were fortunate enough to hear powerful and emotionally charged accounts from surrogates, parents, and people born through U.K. surrogacy (the youngest being an MSJ baby 39 day old baby Harrison). We are all being let down by the current, outdated law that our government won’t be moving forward in this parliament. Clearly, we have more to do.
It was great to see that all of the UK’s non-profit surrogacy organisations came together, all united in our passion, our ambition and our determination to see a much-needed new law which protects everyone, respects families and properly recognises surrogacy.
Thank you to Gina for also representing MSJ as a surrogate and an advocate for reform. The fight continues…
Michael Johnson-Ellis
Hi everyone, So I’m Mike, guess I’m the crazy one who had the idea to sell our souls to Social Media and open up our world for everyone to comment on and observe our lives. I spend most nights (when not with Talulah and Duke obviously) with my phone glued to my hand, posting, sharing, liking and filming - all in readiness for Facebook, Insta and now YouTube. It’s getting to be a full time job, which is tricky - as I have one of those! For the last 18 years I have worked within Medical Recruitment and have worked in a variety of high pressured Operational and Business Development roles in London and the Midlands. More recently I am working for myself as it gives me greater flexibility with our new family via my Consultancy firm MJE Consultancy Ltd, where I attract and recruit Fertility Nurses, Embryologists and IVF Consultants and other specialist Doctors, as the Fertility Industry is my passion. I’m obviously one half of TwoDads.U.K and very proud of that fact too, and without doubt being a father is and has been the best job I’ve ever had. Nothing prepares you for the impact these little humans have on us, I know if you’re anything like me, the joy of being a parent just keeps on giving (whilst equally testing me too!). Don’t get me wrong, there’s days where I want to sit on the garage floor and drown myself in Gin but on the whole, life is better than it ever has been...
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