PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsNewsNew birth certificates issued after consent error

BioNews

New birth certificates issued after consent error

Published 30 January 2017 posted in News and appears in BioNews 886

Author

Dr Antony Starza-Allen

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).

The High Court has ordered that new birth certificates be produced for twins born following fertility treatment, after the originals failed to include the father because consent forms were missing.

The President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, has ordered that new birth certificates be produced for twins born following fertility treatment, after the originals failed to include the father because consent forms were missing. 

The couple, who are not married, received treatment together at CARE Nottingham using donor sperm, which led to the birth of twins. However, when they went to register the birth of their children, the registrars twice refused to include the intended father on the birth certificates because the couple could not produce the consent forms requested – despite being accompanied on one occasion by a member of staff from the clinic.

Birth registration guidance states the need for 'written notice' of the couple's consent to the male partner becoming a legal father where assisted conception is used, which according to the Registrar General was interpreted to refer to consent forms WP and PP – which in this case were missing.

Following the advice of the registrar, the couple decided to leave the father's details blank pending a declaration of parentage. The father told the court: 'I was devastated. I cannot express how I feel about not being recorded on my children's birth certificates as their father.'

The problems for the couple continued as the legal route to correcting the birth certificates would have resulted in them being annotated to show, in effect, that the children may have been born following assisted conception – something the parents wished to avoid.

'[We] had not intended to tell our children that they were conceived using donor sperm, it is only now that we are faced with this situation with their birth certificates that we feel this choice may have been taken away from us and we may have no option but to tell them,' the father said.

In order to issue new birth certificates, the couple were required to make an application for judicial review, claiming that the registrar's decision was an error of law in light of the decision in Re A. In Re A, Lord Justice Munby said that consent form IC – which the couple in this case had signed before treatment – could meet the statutory requirements without the need for forms WP or PP.

Noting that the guidance had not been updated since the decision in Re A, Lord Justice Munby granted the application, permitting the application even though it was made out of time.

He said: 'Put starkly, the state by its actions has denied these parents the right to decide for themselves, within the privacy of the family, what in their view, as devoted parents, is in the best interests of their children – a matter which, to speak plainly, is no business of the state.'

Lord Justice Munby also gave judgment recently in another group of eight cases concerning consent forms, taking the total so far to 24.

Related Articles

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
News
22 August 2016 • 3 minutes read

Judge criticises HFEA consent forms

by Dr Antony Starza-Allen

A High Court judge has questioned aspects of the consent process for fertility treatment in a ruling in which he made a declaration of parentage in respect of a child born following IVF...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
20 April 2016 • 2 minutes read

Judge criticises clinic's 'seriously deficient' care of couple after clerical blunder

by Cait McDonagh

A clerical mistake at a Sheffield IVF clinic meant that a father's status as his child's legal parent was put in doubt...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
18 April 2016 • 3 minutes read

President of the Family Division criticises IVF clinic and lawyers

by Dr Antony Starza-Allen

The President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, has criticised as 'insensitive' the handling of a claim brought by the biological mother of twins who was the victim of an administrative error at a fertility clinic...

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
News
18 April 2016 • 3 minutes read

'Widespread incompetence' across the fertility sector, says senior judge

by Dr Antony Starza-Allen

The President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, has spoken of 'widespread incompetence' in the fertility sector and has questioned the adequacy of the regulatory framework overseen by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority...

Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family (from Greek and Roman mythology) entwined in coils of DNA.
Image by Bill Sanderson via the Wellcome Collection, © Wellcome Trust Ltd 1990. Depicts Laocoön and his family entwined in coils of DNA (based on the figure of Laocoön from Greek and Roman mythology).
Comment
21 September 2015 • 2 minutes read

Legal parenthood — the answer is in black and white (bold, CAPS & italics)

by Andrew Berkley

There is no excuse for the administrative incompetence of fertility clinics that has resulted in legal parenthood uncertainty for at least 84 couples, but are medical providers the ideal professionals to seek consent for legal parenthood?...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« UK Parliament debates regulation of fertility funding

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.

Find out how you can advertise here
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Popular
  • Recent
8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Placenta and organ formation observed in mouse embryo models

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Lower hormone doses may improve IVF egg quality

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Boosting muscle cell production of gene therapy proteins

1 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

First UK medical guidelines issued for trans fertility preservation

1 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Male age has more impact on IVF birth rate than previously thought

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Placenta and organ formation observed in mouse embryo models

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Complex structures of the human heart bioengineered

8 August 2022 • 1 minute read

Brain tumour gene also linked to childhood cancers

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Lower hormone doses may improve IVF egg quality

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

Boosting muscle cell production of gene therapy proteins

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856