Human Fertilisation and Embryology

Part of Living Wage (Reporting) – in the House of Commons at 2:15 pm on 3 February 2015.

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Photo of Luciana Berger Luciana Berger Shadow Minister (Public Health) 2:15, 3 February 2015

My hon. Friend makes some very important points, particularly about the assessment of risk, which has been done extensively throughout this process.

The question is whether the benefits of preventing the transmission of mitochondrial disease, and the likelihood that children will continue to be born who will die in infancy, outweighs the risks of the techniques. The scientific community and the families experiencing mitochondrial disease say that they do; and according to research, almost 2,500 women in Britain of child-bearing age are at risk of passing the condition on to their children. It is now up to Members to decide whether they agree.