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The following information was posted before the HFE bill was debated in the House of Commons on 22nd October.
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The bill drops any reference to the ‘need for a father’. It also gives the legal status of ‘parent’ to the partner of the mother. If the couple were in a civil partnership, then the birth certificate would record the second woman as the other supportive partner.
In such a case the state would be denying the child knowledge of his or her biological father.
The reasons for dropping reference to the need for a father are to do with single women, and women in civil partnerships. The government wishes to make clear that single women and women in civil partnerships are legally allowed to have fertility treatment - even though this happens under the current law. This change would make the law consistent with the recent ‘civil partnership’ legislation.
P4L believes there is no necessity to change the law. Dropping the mention of a father, particularly when the need for a father had previously been mentioned in the law, sends a very harmful message to society.
It is not in the interests of women or children or of society as a whole, to weaken the sense of responsibility that fathers should have for their children.
The experience of children who have been adopted has shown us how much some children desire to know about their origins. Many children conceived by donor sperm experience a similar need, and this is now acknowledged in the law.
Children have a right to know about their biological parents. This gives a further reason why the law should not permit or require false statements to be put on birth certificates.
FAQs;
Q - Isn't this about equality? Why are you against that?
A - We're not. But this is an area of the law that isn't broken, and doesn't need fixing.
Since the civil partnership legislation came into force there have been no examples of fertility treatment denied to lesbian couples, or single women. This should be about what is in the best interest of the child, and to deny a child a Father by law is wrong.
Lord Ahmed said in the recent House of Lords debate 'No Parliament has the right, nor does any law, to deny a child knowledge of his origins'.
Q - What evidence is there that Fathers are important - surely single woman and those in a civil partnership are capable of bringing up children?
Many, many single women and civil partners do a superb job in bringing up children, often in difficult circumstances - that can't be denied, it's a fact.
It's also a fact that where a Father is present, there are major beneifts to the social, educational and emotional development of children.
Of course not all fathers will be present in a child's life, even if they are on the birth certificate, and some men make bad fathers. But for the State to remove any reference to a father being involved in the creation of a child is not only untrue (Lord Alton has called this 'The State colluding in a deception'), it also sends the wrong message to society that fathers are not valued.
CARE have produced an excellent document containing much of this information and is well worth a look here.
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