No need for a father figure for IVF babies? Posted on 12/15/2006 7:49:17 PM PST by Coleus
No need for a father figure for IVF babies? The need for a child to have a father should be removed from the law governing fertility treatment, a government White Paper said today. Clinics must still consider the welfare of any child born as a result of IVF or other fertility treatment but whether a father figure is present will no longer be necessary, under government proposals.
Do children need a father figure? Tell us in reader comments below
The move would make it easier for single women and lesbian couples to have children using donor sperm. The Review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act said: "On balance the Government has decided to propose that the reference to need for a father (in consideration of the welfare of the child) should be removed from the Act." The move is set to ignite a fierce row over family values and the role of fathers in bringing up children. The welfare of the child investigations can involve asking the patient’s GP about their health, mental state and living arrangements, and also the effect another child may have on any existing ones.
It has been proposed that all of this be withdrawn as couples who are able to conceive naturally do not face such inquiries and it in effect discriminates against the infertile - but this was rejected. The paper, which will be presented as a draft Bill, also includes clauses to clamp down on internet-based services offering women donor sperm. These are currently outside regulations. It is also proposed that sperm and egg donors should have access to limited information about any child conceived as a result of their donation. Presenting the White Paper, public health minister Caroline Flint said: "The UK is a world leader in reproductive technology and a pioneer in the way it is regulated.
"But the current law, which has served us well, is in need of revision. Technology has changed and so have attitudes. I believe that the proposed changes we are publishing today will ensure that legitimate medical and scientific uses of human reproductive technologies continue to flourish while giving the public confidence in how they are being used and developed." On the reference for the "need for a father" to be considered, Ms Flint said it did not mean that same-sex couples would automatically get IVF on the NHS. She said: "The changes we are talking about concern what the law allows or doesn’t allow - they are not about what the NHS provides. "Access to fertility services is based on clinical need. If there is a clinical need for fertility treatment, then the provision of NHS treatment should be considered, regardless of the patient’s sexual orientation." At the moment, primary care trusts in each area decide whether to treat same-sex couples on the NHS. 
Add your comment | View all Reader comments (9)
All children need a mother and a father.
CHOOSING not to have a father is assinine.
My kids know better.
Weird?
Yeah, maybe ... but to this day, I associate my own sweat mingled with (yes ... )Old Spice and I am reminded of a guy that started my work ethic conciousness by working and smelling a certain way.
I'm told the olfactory sense is the, or one of the most powerful memory joggers.
Could be ...
Thanks, Dad.
Merry Christmas.
If you can't get this one I'll get it tomorrow.
"The move would make it easier for single women and lesbian couples to have children using donor sperm. "
No wonder Brit medical care is so expensive. Why use IVF with all that entails? There's a reason God gave us turkey basters.
Nobody needs fertility treatment any more than they need children; these people are still playing house.
When I was about 7 or 8 my dad had to go out of state to have an eye operation, I missed him so much that I rummaged his closet and found a shirt with his sweat smell just lingering and slept with that shirt until he came home.
My grandmother took it away the first night but I cried until she gave it back - she missed her son as well, I guess.
Me thinks you are on something...every time I shave, my daughter comes and sniffs me allover and says that she wants to smell just like me.
I think these jughead "experts" would change their tune if they were required to support these kids rather than making the taxpayers do it because there is no father around. "Experts" are some of the dumbest people I've ever seen.
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