Assisted Reproductive Technologies: COVID-19 and Beyond

A variety of barriers limit access to assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) – technologies that are used to enhance pregnancy. These access issues have been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions, barriers, and delays. What opportunities or barriers to ARTs have arisen or been exacerbated by the pandemic? How should law and policymakers consider these concerns in their responses to the current and future pandemics? Leading researchers, Srishti Hukku and Amarpreet Kaur, and journalist, Alison Motluk, will address these questions.

Alison Motluk (will speak on international surrogacy)
Alison Motluk (B.A., M.Sc.) is a freelance journalist based in Toronto. She writes mostly about assisted reproduction and publishes a weekly newsletter, HeyReprotech (external link) . Her work has appeared in The Walrus, Maisonneuve, Toronto Life, Hazlitt, The Economist, New Scientist, in various newspapers, on CBC Radio and elsewhere.

Amarpreeet Kaur (will speak about germline editing technologies)
Amarpreet is a Lecturer in Health Technologies and Governance in the School of Social Policy at the University of Birmingham. She is also completing her PhD at the University of Cambridge with the Sociology of Reproduction Research Group (ReproSoc), where her research is focussed on human germline genome editing as a potential reproductive choice in the UK, in relation disease. Her wider research interests are in emerging biotechnologies and genomics.

Srishti Hukku (will speak on artificial womb technology)
Srishti Hukku is a cotutelle PhD Candidate in Population Health at the University of Ottawa and in Medical Anthropology at Macquarie University in Australia. Her current research interests include the sexual and reproductive health spectrum with a special focus on abortion, the role of disruptive technologies in reproductive health, reproductive autonomy, reproductive issues in minority communities, infertility and assisted human reproduction.

Outside of academia, Srishti is a two-time recipient of the Canadian Public Service Award of Excellence, the highest recognition given to a public servant in Canada, for innovation and exceptional leadership. She holds a Master’s of Public Administration from Queen’s University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics from McMaster University.