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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

I shall comment briefly on Amendment No. 5 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Patel. It is with some trepidation that I venture to part company with the noble Lord in relation to this amendment, but nevertheless I must do so. As the noble Lord said, there may come a time when eggs and sperm can be created from stem cells. I understand that work is already going on to try to do this. If that work should succeed, it could be of huge benefit to a person who cannot produce mature eggs or sperm but would like to have a child who is genetically related to them. In theory, that technique could obviate altogether the need for donor sperm and eggs, which many of us would surely welcome. However, if such a technique were to be developed, it would open up all sorts of other possibilities, which we have really not begun to think about. It could mean that the stem cells of a man could be used to create a female ovum and the stem cells of a woman could be developed into male sperm. I use that notion as only one example of what might become possible. It would enable a woman to become a child’s genetic father and a man to become a child’s genetic mother. Some may feel perfectly relaxed about that idea—the noble Lord, Lord Patel, may be one of them. However, I would be amazed if parliamentarians in general did not regard it as an idea that needed considerable thought and deliberation before we could contemplate making it legal. The noble Lord would doubtless say that he does not propose to make artificial gametes legal for treatment purposes and that he merely proposes an order-making power to do so. The problem for me with an order-making power, especially one expressed in terms as broad as in this amendment, is that it does not afford Parliament enough control over an idea that, if put before us, would be bound to give rise to controversy. The potential degree of controversy could be very great, for the reasons that I have given. Therefore I believe that such matters are more appropriately left to primary legislation. The Bill is right to prohibit the use of artificial gametes for treatment purposes.