Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill: Welfare of the child, need for a father and parenthood
Committee stage, House of Commons, May 2008
The welfare of the child
Clause 14(2)(b): the BMA supports the removal of the term 'need for a father' and its replacement with the term 'need for supportive parenting'.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 places a requirement upon those offering IVF and associated techniques to consider the welfare of the child who might be born as a result before they agree to provide treatment. The Bill retains this provision with an amendment - clause 14(2)(b) - to remove reference to the child’s ‘need for a father’ and to replace it with the child’s need for ‘supportive parenting’. The new paragraph would read as follows:
‘A woman shall not be provided with treatment services unless account has been taken of the welfare of any child who may be born as a result of treatment (including the need of that child for supportive parenting), and of any other child who may be affected by the birth.’
The BMA supports the requirement in the legislation to consider, before treatment is provided, the welfare of the child or children who may be born as a result of treatment. Where a health professional is involved in assisting conception, that person has some responsibility towards the prospective child.
The BMA does not support blanket bans on particular types of patients gaining access to IVF treatment. Instead, assessments should be made on the merits of each individual case. Where a heath professional decides not to offer treatment, the decision should be based upon sound evidence that any child born to that individual or couple would be at risk of serious harm.
The ‘need for a father’
We do not believe that the removal of “need for a father” is tantamount to saying that children in general do not need fathers. Rather, its removal is a recognition of the changes both in social attitudes and in legislation (such as the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and the Human Rights Act 1998) which have occurred since the clause was originally debated in 1989. Its removal is also supported by findings from social research on the wellbeing of children born following assisted conception either to single women (known in this context as solo mothers) or lesbian couples.
In the case of both solo mothers and lesbian couple mothers, research shows that it is the quality of parenting, rather than the presence of a father, which matters most. Where fathers are present in a family, they are clearly vital. In different family forms, however, the absence of a father does not have a detrimental effect upon the development of the children born.
‘Solo’ mothers
A small proportion of people seeking treatment with donor sperm are single women who would like to start a family but who have not found a suitable partner with whom to have a child. These women are often called ‘solo mothers’, as opposed to ‘single mothers’, in order to distinguish them from those women who are caring for children alone as a result of the breakdown of their relationship or the death of a partner.
Whilst there is good evidence that children raised by single mothers are more likely to be disadvantaged, this is not the case for the children of solo mothers. Solo mothers have carefully considered their options and chosen to have a child in this way. They have not suffered a relationship breakdown or the death of a partner and tend to be in a better financial position than single mothers. Early research shows that their children compare well emotionally and psychologically with children born by donor insemination to two heterosexual parents (reference 1).
Lesbian mothers
A substantial amount of research has been carried out on the parenting skills of lesbian couples. In the early days, research focused upon women who had started a family in a heterosexual relationship but continued to raise their children in a lesbian relationship. More recently, research has concentrated upon lesbian couples who seek to have a child through donor insemination at a licensed fertility clinic.
Social research on children born to these families has given similar findings to those children born to solo mothers. Their emotional and psychological development is comparable to children born of donor insemination to two heterosexual parents. In fact, the second female parent often has greater parent-child interaction than do the fathers in the heterosexual couples (reference 2).
Impact of the current legislation on access to treatment
In the past, a significant proportion of clinics imposed blanket bans on providing treatment to single women or lesbian couples, using the ‘need for a father’ reference in the 1990 Act as a justification for doing so. Although this kind of ban is now rare, some lesbian couples are discouraged from approaching clinics for fear of disapproval, opting instead to find a sperm donor themselves. The result is that these women miss out on the health screening provided by licensed clinics and legal protections in relation to parenthood, as described overleaf.
Where single women or lesbian couples do gain access to treatment at a licensed clinic, they are subject to a more stringent welfare of the child assessment than heterosexual couples are. HFEA guidance for clinics advises that heterosexual couples are provided with treatment unless the prospective child would be at risk of serious harm. Women presenting for treatment without a male partner, however, are subject to the following additional assessment:
‘Where the child will have no legal father the treatment centre is expected to assess the prospective mother’s ability to meet the child’s needs and the ability of other persons with the family or social circle willing to share responsibility for those needs.’
The ‘need for a father’ reference in the existing Act - and the guidance which is based upon it - creates additional hurdles for single women and lesbian couples seeking licensed treatment which are at odds with the research evidence.
Legal parenthood
The welfare of the child provision relates to access to IVF treatment and places a requirement to consider the child’s welfare as part of the decision about whether or not to offer treatment. Issues relating to parenthood under the 1990 Act and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill relate to the legal relationship that individuals have with their child once he or she is born. As such, child welfare considerations and legal parenthood are separate and distinct issues.
Clauses 33 to 47: The Bill widens the definition of parents under the 1990 Act, allowing the following to be legal parents to their child:
- a woman and her husband (clause 35)
- a woman and a man, where he and the woman have notified the clinic as such (clause 37)
- a woman and her civil partner (clause 42)
- a woman and a woman, where they have both notified the clinic as such (clause 44)
- a woman on her own.
The effect of these provisions is not to remove the father from the process because there is no legal father in such a situation. Instead, the provisions enable female partners to be a legal parent to their child. The BMA believes that it is in the interests of the child to have such a formal legal relationship with both parents who will be responsible for their care and upbringing, whether those parents are of a different or the same sex.
Where donated sperm has been used in treatment provided since April 2005, the resulting child is able to access identifying information about the donor from the HFEA when he or she reaches the age of 18.
References:
1. Murray C & Golombok S ‘Solo mothers and their donor insemination infants: follow-up at age 2 years’ Human Reproduction (2005) 20:6 1655-1660. Murray C & Golombok S ‘Going it alone: solo mothers and their infants conceived by donor insemination’ American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
(2005) 75:2 242-253.
2. Brewaeys A, Ponjaert I, van Hall E & Golombok S ‘Donor insemination: Child development and family functioning in lesbian mother families’ Human Reproduction (1997) 12:6 1349-1359.
For further information, please contact:
Email: parliamentaryunit@bma.org.uk