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Because ‘the adoption of information obligations for traders is a measure that intrudes upon the freedom of the marketplace and party autonomy only to a small extent’, 42 ‘“empowering” consumers through information has become a singularly important element in the regulatory toolbox’. 43 In Hammarberg et al’s survey study of Australians travelling abroad for surrogacy, fewer than half of the 249 intended parents who responded had sought information from Australian IVF professionals—and of those who did, around one-third reported a negative reaction. 58 This was reflected by our interviewees. Cheryl said: Patients’ ‘pathologies of reasoning’ 85 are not confined to over-optimism. As King and Moulton explain, patient comprehension may also be affected by ‘availability bias’, where patients ‘overestimate their risk of contracting a condition that receives substantial media coverage, such as breast cancer’; ‘compression bias’, which involves ‘patients overestimating small risks and underestimating large ones’; ‘small numbers bias’ where patients ‘misinterpret their individual risk based on a small number of known cases (my two friends both had complications after their hysterectomies, so I probably will too)’; and ‘miscalibration bias’ which involves patients being ‘overly confident about the extent or accuracy of their knowledge’. 86 Look, I was following what people were saying about contracts and to get the contract looked at … I think some of the advice that people have shared was it costs a lot of money to have your contracts looked at and it’s not actually legal or legally viable in Australia anyway. There’s no real — … So I didn’t actually — then I decided not to seek legal advice because I just thought it was almost pointless.

Regulating Embryo Research: A Regulator’s Perspective’ in Mark Flear et al (eds) European Law and New Health Technologies(Oxford University Press, 2013) 275-281. DIY Abortion and Harm Reduction' in G Laurie and P Ferguson (eds) Inspiring a Medico-Legal Revolution: Essays in Honour of Sheila McLean (Ashgate, 2015) 25-36What we might describe as the Montgomery model of informed consent assumes that, following information disclosure and discussions with their doctor, patients will understand the risks associated with treatment, and any alternatives to it, and will decide whether to proceed after having considered this information, in the light of their values. 70 In practice, however, there is evidence that medical decisions are not always made in this rational, linear way. Patients may not understand what they have been told, and the information they receive may have little impact upon their choices. This should not be surprising. If psychologists and behavioural economists are right about the limitations on human beings’ reasoning capacities and their decision-making biases, it would be peculiar if these had no impact at all in other decision-making contexts. Central Issues sections at the start of each chapter outline the key concepts covered, and further reading sections at the end provide guidance on further sources for research It would be possible to regard reproductive travel as an aberration, relied upon in extremis by people who are prevented, either by law or de facto, from accessing reproductive services at home. In response to the increasing numbers of people travelling for reproductive purposes, enabling more people to access local fertility services might therefore be a plausible and laudable regulatory objective. 61 But while we would support measures to improve access to services, not least because these might also meet the needs of those who cannot afford to travel, we would like to suggest that we should also be interested in what local fertility providers and regulators can learn from the experiences of reproductive travellers. Linda Mulcahy 'The Market for Precedent: Shifting Visions of the Role of Clinical Negligence Claims and Trials' Medical Law Review(2014) 22 (2) pp.274-290

Too expensive to treat? Non-treatment decisions at the margins of viability' (2019) 27 Medical Law Review 461–481 .(first published online13/11/18) (with Tatiana Flessas)

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In contrast, a common theme among our interviewees is a rejection of the assumption that altruistic surrogacy is morally superior to commercial surrogacy because there are fewer financial incentives. Indeed, it was noted that there are aspects of altruistic surrogacy that might be described as coercive. For example, Beth had undergone a radical hysterectomy as part of her treatment for cervical cancer and, after an unsuccessful surrogacy arrangement in Australia, she travelled to California for an arrangement involving an egg donor and a surrogate mother. Beth found the assistance of the agency in California to be vital to the whole process. She was strongly critical of the Australian system and did not accept that altruistic surrogacy was less coercive than the commercial arrangements available in California: The relationship a consumer has with a retailer will almost always be less intimate and trusting than the doctor–patient relationship. Not only are doctors in a relationship of trust with their patients, they are also under a professional duty to make the care of their patient their first concern. 18 It is unusual for a retailer to be under a duty to question a consumer’s choices, 19 whereas a healthcare professional should query a patient’s decision, if it seems to be at odds with her previously expressed wishes. 20 In Mordel v Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, 21 for example, Ms Mordel had initially decided to undergo all six standard prenatal screening tests, but then answered ‘no’ when asked whether she wanted the test for Down’s syndrome. Jay J found that the sonographer had been negligent in failing to question whether Ms Mordel, whose English was not perfect, had understood the question, given that it contradicted her earlier choice. First, the distinction between so-called ‘altruistic’ and ‘commercial’ gamete donation and surrogacy is increasingly unsustainable in law and policy. 19 Further, this division of practices is not experienced as meaningful by many participants in CBR, and is openly rejected by some. The seminal textbook for teaching any aspect of medical law...clearly written with a real depth of accessible analysis and a wealth of resources." - Caroline Chappell, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Chester

I mean Thailand didn’t have specific laws at the time. We were certainly aware that there [were] draft laws on the table, but at the time they didn’t have those laws. However through just common practice, we actually felt that the laws were quite protective of us, of doing surrogacy. Assisted Conception and Surrogacy in the United Kingdom' in J Eekelaar and Rob George (eds) Routledge Handbook of Family Law and Policy (Routledge, 2014) 189-200. Research emerging from the UK and Australia suggests a number of common threads, which make them useful comparators when developing responses to CBR. In both the UK and Australia, people who travel abroad for reproductive treatment may have multiple reasons for doing so, but as both countries provide high quality IVF treatment (with varying degrees of State subsidy) and can broadly be characterised as liberal in their access, 14 our residents may be less likely to be motivated primarily by treatment exclusions or cost considerations. Informed Consent and the Impotence of Tort’ in S. McLean (ed) First Do No Harm(Aldershot, Ashgate, 2006) 273-86Regulating Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing: the view from the UK' (2014) 50 Japanese Journal of Law and Political Science 9-19.

Adjuncts in the IVF laboratory: where is the evidence for "add-on" interventions?' (2017) 32 Human Reproduction 485-491 (with Joyce Harper et al.) Statutory regulation of PGD: unintended consequences and future challenges' in Sheila McLean Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis: A Comparative and Theoretical Analysis (Routledge, 2012) 71-88.Briefly stated, consumers have less information than traders and so have difficulty in making decisions that reflect their true preferences. There are not sufficient incentives for traders to volunteer information, so the law needs to require that the information be provided. Once this information is provided, consumers can protect their own interests by selecting the goods or services closest to their preferences. Harm will be reduced by ensuring goods and services are more likely to be in line with realistic consumer expectations based on reliable information. Avoiding problems through the consumer taking responsibility for his or her own purchasing choices must be a desirable objective. 41 There are multiple differences between pre-contractual information disclosures to consumers and the process of gaining a patient’s informed consent to medical treatment. First, as Tallis explained in the context of a debate over whether patients should be redefined as customers: