‘A woman shall not be provided with treatment services unless account has been taken of the welfare of any child who may be affected by the birth’ (HFEA Act 1990)
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As a licensed Unit, we are required by law to satisfy ourselves that we know of no medical or social reason why an individual or couple may not be offered treatment, including anything that may adversely affect the welfare of any resulting child.
We make our enquiries by asking patients to complete a welfare of the child form. If necessary we may need to make further enquiries by contacting the patient’s GP. In order to do this, the patient’s consent must be obtained and refusal to give consent may be taken into account. If our enquiries give cause for concern, the centre will make any further enquiries of any relevant authority or agency.
Treatment may be refused on clinical grounds if the unit believes that it would not be in the best interests of any resulting or existing child to provide treatment.
Patients are encouraged to give their views before any decision is made and to meet any objection raised to providing them with treatment. In certain situations, a case may be referred to the Ethics Committee. This is an independent body of professional and lay people who meet regularly. They have a responsibility to ensure that the patient’s treatment, taking into account their circumstances is ethically acceptable.
People seeking treatment are entitled to a fair and unprejudiced assessment of their situation and needs. This is conducted with skill and sensitivity appropriate to the delicacy of the case and the wishes and feelings of those involved.
Parental Responsibility
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Parental responsibility is defined by the Children Act 1989 as ‘all rights, duties and responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of the child has in relation to the child and his property’. Section 2 of the act states ‘where a child’s father and mother were married to each other at the time of his birth, they shall each have parental responsibility for the child’. For children born after 1 December 2003, an unmarried father will have parental responsibility for the child
Parenthood provision
When donor sperm or embryos are used for gamete or embryo transfers that take place after 6th April 2009, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 states that when unmarried couples use donor sperm or embryos, the male partner must consent to being the father in order to be legally recognised as such, and named on the child’s birth certificate.
The situation for married couples will remain unchanged from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. The presumption will remain that the husband is the legal father of the child unless it is shown that he did not consent to treatment of his wife.
When lesbian couples who are not in a civil partnership are treated, it will be possible for the female partner of a woman who has a child following IVF or Donor Insemination to be the child’s second legal parent. The female partner must consent to be the child’s second legal parent in order to be legally recognised as such and named on the child’s birth certificate. The woman being treated must also consent to her being recognised as the second parent. The status of lesbian couples who are civil partners is that of married couples.
