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Should
single women and lesbians gain access to fertility treatment?
This debate
took place on Thursday 18 March in the House of Commons, London
The Human Fertilisation
and Embryology Act 1990 requires that infertility doctors take
into account a child's need for a father before IVF treatment
is offered. Does this requirement offer a vital protection for
children or is it out-dated and discriminatory? Should single
women and lesbian couples have the same right of access to fertility
services as heterosexual couples or are fatherless families morally
wrong?
The government recently
announced plans to conduct a review of the Human Fertilisation
and Embryology Act. The Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee
is currently looking into the regulation of reproductive technology,
with a view to bringing these issues before Parliament for debate.
This meeting, sponsored by Evan Harris MP, will provide an opportunity
for parliamentarians, policy makers, academics and clinicians
to discuss this issue ahead of these important reviews.
The
speakers taking part in this debate were:
Dr
Evan Harris
MP Oxford West & Abingdon / House of Commons Science and Technology
Committee
Josephine
Quintavalle
Comment on Reproductive
Ethics (CORE)
Dr
Hazel Biggs
Senior lecturer in Law, University of Kent
Dr
Clare Murray
Research psychologist of ART families, London
This event was made
possible by a grant from the UK Department of Health
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