Episodios

  • Ancestry, Ethnicity, IVF Outcomes: Why Do Some Patients Fare Better than Others?

    Ancestry, Ethnicity, IVF Outcomes: Why Do Some Patients Fare Better than Others?
    Apr 13 2026
    This episode of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) podcast discusses disparities in IVF outcomes, and experiences of fertility treatment, between people with different ethnic backgrounds.

    Apects discussed include data on ethnic diversity in fertility treatment published by the UK's fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

    what employers can and should do, for employees who are receiving fertility treatment or who are dealing with infertility.

    The discussion is chaired by Sarah Norcross (Director of PET), with contributions from:

    ⚫ Baroness Geeta Nargund (Labour Peer in the House of Lords and Member of the HFEA)

    ⚫ Dr Patricia Hamilton (Lecturer in Sociology at the University of York)

    ⚫ Professor Asif Muneer (Professor of Urology and Surgical Andrology at University College London)

    ⚫ Jonathan Luwagga (Ambassador and Peer Advocate at the Fertility Alliance)

    ⚫ Dr Edmond Edi-Osagie (Medical Director of Aurora Reproductive Healthcare)

    ⚫ Yvonne John (activist and author of the book 'Dreaming of a Life Unlived')

    PET is grateful to IBSA for supporting this discussion.

    PET is also grateful to Jon Nicoll, who created the opening and closing music for its podcast.

    Register at https://www.progress.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/ for upcoming PET events.
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    1 h y 30 m
  • Understanding Egg Donation: The Give and Take

    Understanding Egg Donation: The Give and Take
    Mar 23 2026
    This episode of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) podcast discusses the needs and interests of everyone involved in egg donation – including donors, recipients, donor-conceived people, fertility professionals, regulators and policymakers.

    Aspects discussed include the current Parliamentary inquiry into egg donation and egg freezing, launched by the Women and Equalities Committee of the UK's House of Commons.

    The discussion is chaired by Sarah Norcross (Director of PET), with contributions from:

    ⚫ Dr Jane Stewart (previously Head of the Newcastle Fertility Centre and Chair of the British Fertility Society)

    ⚫ Professor Nicky Hudson (Professor of Medical Sociology at Loughborough University)

    ⚫ Angela Pericleous-Smith (Chair of the British Infertility Counselling Association)

    ⚫ Sophie Cook (donor-conceived person, conceived with an egg from an anonymous donor)

    ⚫ Professor Mark Hanson (Emeritus Professor of Human Development and Health at the University of Southampton)

    PET is grateful to London Egg Bank for supporting this discussion.

    PET is also grateful to Jon Nicoll, who created the opening and closing music for its podcast.

    Register at https://www.progress.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/ for upcoming PET events.
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    1 h y 27 m
  • Fertility and the Workplace: Can Employers Help? Should They?

    Fertility and the Workplace: Can Employers Help? Should They?
    Mar 9 2026
    This episode of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) podcast discusses what employers can and should do, for employees who are receiving fertility treatment or who are dealing with infertility.

    The discussion is chaired by Sarah Norcross (Director of PET), with contributions from:

    ⚫ Becky Kearns (Chief Executive of Fertility Matters at Work)

    ⚫ Seema Duggal (Coordinator of the Fertility in the Workplace initiative at Fertility Network UK)

    ⚫ Dr Krystal Wilkinson (Associate Professor of Human Resource Management at Manchester Metropolitan University)

    ⚫ Dr Michael Carroll (Reader in Reproductive Science at Manchester Metropolitan University)

    ⚫ Sandy Christiansen (EMEA Consultant at Carrot Fertility)

    ⚫ Natalie Sutherland (Trustee at PET, and Partner at the International Family Law Group)

    PET is grateful to Carrot Fertility for supporting this discussion.

    PET is also grateful to Jon Nicoll, who created the opening and closing music for its podcast.

    Register at https://www.progress.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/ for upcoming PET events.
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    1 h y 31 m
  • Donor Conception and Genomics: Sperm, Eggs, Embryos, Mitochondria

    Donor Conception and Genomics: Sperm, Eggs, Embryos, Mitochondria
    Mar 2 2026
    This episode of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) podcast discusses the genetics and genomics of various forms of donor conception, and related scientific and ethical issues.

    The discussion – which originally took place at the PET Annual Conference – is introduced by Sarah Norcross (Director of PET) and chaired by Professor Karen Sermon (former Chair of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology), with contributions from:

    ⚫ Professor Stéphane Viville (founder of the Genetics of Infertility Unit at the University Hospitals of Strasbourg)

    ⚫ Professor Dagan Wells (Professor of Reproductive Genetics at the University of Oxford and Director of Juno Genetics)

    ⚫ Professor Michael Parker (Director of the Ethox Centre and of the Global Health Bioethics Network)

    ⚫ Debbie Kennett (Genetic Genealogist)

    PET is grateful to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology for supporting this discussion.

    PET is also grateful to Jon Nicoll, who created the opening and closing music for its podcast.

    Register at https://www.progress.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/ for upcoming PET events.
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    53 m
  • Polygenic Risk, Polygenic Scores, Polygenic Indices: What Are They? What Should Be Done with Them?

    Polygenic Risk, Polygenic Scores, Polygenic Indices: What Are They? What Should Be Done with Them?
    Feb 23 2026
    This episode of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) podcast discusses the science and ethics of PGT-P – a controversial form of preimplantation genetic testing that uses polygenic scores, rather than using more traditional forms of genomic data.

    The discussion – which originally took place at the PET Annual Conference – is chaired by Dr Philip Ball (science writer and broadcaster), with contributions from:

    ⚫ Dr Emma Meaburn (Behavioural Geneticist at Birkbeck University of London)

    ⚫ Dr Dorit Barlevy (Senior Researcher at Baylor College of Medicine)

    ⚫ Professor Angus Clarke (Emeritus Professor of Clinical Genetics at Cardiff University)

    PET is grateful to the British Fertility Society for supporting this discussion.

    PET is also grateful to Jon Nicoll, who created the opening and closing music for its podcast.

    Register at https://www.progress.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/ for upcoming PET events.
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    35 m
  • The Origins of Preimplantation Genetic Testing

    The Origins of Preimplantation Genetic Testing
    Feb 16 2026
    This episode of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) podcast features Professor Alan Handyside – a pioneer of preimplantation genetic testing – explaining how and why it became scientifically possible, and also legally permissible, to test the DNA of IVF embryos.

    This discussion – which originally took place at the PET Annual Conference – is introduced by Sarah Norcross (Director of PET) and chaired by Dr Philip Ball (science writer and broadcaster).

    PET is grateful to Jon Nicoll, who created the opening and closing music for its podcast.

    Register at https://www.progress.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/ for upcoming PET events.
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    15 m
  • PGT-A as an IVF Add-On: 25 Years of Controversy

    PGT-A as an IVF Add-On: 25 Years of Controversy
    Feb 5 2026
    This episode of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) podcast discusses longstanding controversies surrounding PGT-A (preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy) – an 'add-on' to IVF treatment whose use has been the subject of lively debate for the past 25 years.

    The discussion – which originally took place at the PET Annual Conference – is introduced by Sarah Norcross (Director of PET) and chaired by Dr Deborah Cohen (science writer and broadcaster), with contributions from:

    ⚫ Professor Karen Sermon (former Chair of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology)

    ⚫ Dr Justin Chu (Medical Director of TFP Oxford Fertility)

    ⚫ James Lawford Davies (Partner at LDMH Partners)

    ⚫ Professor Manuela Perrotta (Leader of the Remaking Fertility initiative)

    PET is grateful to Remaking Fertility – an initiative based at Queen Mary University of London – for supporting this discussion.

    PET is also grateful to Jon Nicoll, who created the opening and closing music for its podcast.

    Register at https://www.progress.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/ for upcoming PET events.
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    53 m
  • Expanded Carrier Screening: How Is It Used? What Are the Ethical Implications?

    Expanded Carrier Screening: How Is It Used? What Are the Ethical Implications?
    Jan 12 2026
    This episode of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) podcast discusses the use of expanded carrier screening to test prospective parents, and/or donors of sperm or eggs, for gene variants that could potentially lead to ill health in future children.

    The discussion – which originally took place at the PET Annual Conference – is chaired by Sarah Norcross (Director of PET), with contributions from:

    ⚫ Sara Levene (Consultant Genetic Counsellor and founder of Guided Genetics)

    ⚫ Professor Jackson Kirkman-Brown (Science Lead at the Birmingham Women's Fertility Centre)

    ⚫ Dr Heidi Mertes (Chair of Belgium's Federal Commission for Medical and Scientific Research on Embryos In Vitro)

    ⚫ Professor Cathy Herbrand (Principal Investigator at PRECAS)

    PET is grateful to Reproduction in the Age of Genomic Medicine: The Emergence, Commercialisation and Implications of PReconception Expanded CArrier Screening (PRECAS) – a project based at De Montfort University – for supporting this discussion.

    PET is also grateful to Jon Nicoll, who created the opening and closing music for its podcast.

    Register at https://www.progress.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/ for upcoming PET events.
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    51 m