Clause 53
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [Lords]
9:15 am
Dawn Primarolo (Minister of State (Public Health), Department of Health; Bristol South, Labour)
The Bill sets out the provisions regarding legal parenthood for same-sex couples following assisted conception. The provisions allow for the female partner of the woman giving birth, whether in a civil partnership or not, to be entered as a parent at birth registration—that is a debate that we have had over a series of clauses.
Something else happens at birth registration, which is why there is a cross-reference with legislation in other clauses. At birth registration, some statistical information is collected under statute by the registrar. It relates to the mother’s and father’s ages and, if they are married, the date of marriage, whether the mother has been married before and the number of children born to the mother. The information that the registrar is required to collect is set out in the Population (Statistics) Act 1938. As a result of the measures in the Bill, the questions asked when registering the birth require amendment, as the existing wording would be inappropriate for same-sex couples.
The amendment makes the necessary changes to the 1938 Act—we were required to do it this way round—in order to allow for the collection of information relating to the age of the same-sex parents and the date of any civil partnership, where applicable, so as to treat same-sex parents the same as other parents. This is a requirement beyond the Bill about the collection of statistics and other things under the 1938 Act and the registration of birth. That is why I presume, as you said, Mr. Hood, that all the references that occur in another clause are put together here for the substantive debate. It is exactly the same principle. It is about recording the information.