Events

Dad Not Included: Should the Need for a Father Be Enshrined in Law?

Progress Educational Trust
Grand Committee Room, Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 0AA, UK
14 January 2008 -

An evening debate at the Houses of Parliament, organised by the Progress Educational Trust (PET), with the support of Parliamentary sponsors Dr Evan Harris (Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon), Robert Key (Conservative Member of Parliament for Salisbury) and Dari Taylor (Labour Member of Parliament for Stockton South).

Those offering IVF and associated techniques are required, by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, to consider the welfare of the child who might be born as a result - including the child's 'need for a father'. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill currently being debated in Parliament proposes to remove the reference to the 'need for a father' from this area of law, begging two questions. First, do children need fathers? Second, is it necessary or desirable that the need for a father be enshrined in law? This debate at the Houses of Parliament will see experts debate the issue from three contrasting perspectives.

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Speakers

• Baroness Ruth Deech
  Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords and Professor of Law at Gresham College

• Natalie Gamble
  Partner at Gamble and Ghevaert and mother, together with her civil partner, of two donor-conceived children

• Fiona MacCallum
  Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Warwick's Faculty of Science

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Chair

• Rt Revd Lord Richard Harries
  Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords and Professor of Divinity at Gresham College

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Partners and supporters

• Dr Evan Harris

• Robert Key

• Dari Taylor