Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Deceased Fathers) Bill
10:30 am
Mr Tony Clarke (Northampton South, Labour)
I hope that the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) will take it from me that we were keen to point out on Second Reading that we intended simply to mirror the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. We have been careful to make hon. Members aware that the Bill does not in essence deal with fertilisation and embryology; it deals with the narrow aspect of why children born to deceased fathers, whose mothers have gone through fertility or in vitro fertilisation treatment, cannot be registered on the birth certificate. I hope that we will not involve ourselves too deeply in issues about the 1990 Act that should perhaps be revisited, but which are not relevant to the tight scope of the Bill, which concerns the registration of a child.