Y v A Healthcare Trust and the Mental Capacity Act 2005: taking gamete retrieval to the bank

Abstract

Comments on the application in Y v A Healthcare NHS Trust (CP) of the best interests test set out in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 s.4 to the retrieval of sperm from a man suspected of being brainstem dead, and the approach to consent to storage and use in fertility treatment by his wife. Questions whether a construction of best interests which extends to potential wishes is appropriate in the strictly regulated context of assisted conception.