---

Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

I also support Amendment No. 55. I think it is important that this House remember that there are single-sex couples and single parents. When in another life I was a judge, I made numerous orders which had the effect of children living with two fathers, two mothers or a single mother. As the noble Baroness, Lady O’Cathain, said, that is a wholly different situation. For the Government to remove the requirement in the 1990 Act is to send a message to the public. It is a very important message, and one only the noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, has referred to so far: that fathers are not all that important—that they do not matter. There are a large number of fathers’ organisations out there, and I suffered Fathers 4 Justice over a number of years. However, there are some moderate fathers’ organisations who will feel demoted by the removal of this part of the 1990 Act. The Government may say that they do not intend that that should be the effect. Intentionally or unintentionally, the message will go out to fathers, and the Government cannot ignore that. It is also contrary to the ethos of the child legislation and the ethos of this Government, as has already been said, concerning the importance of fathers in the life of children. If the amendment is successful and Clause 14(2)(b) is removed, it would not do any harm to single-sex parents or to single parents. It would recognise the vital contribution of fathers, not to every family—and we must acknowledge that single-sex couples and single parents bring up many children successfully—but to many families. We are looking at what message is being sent out. In my respectful view, the Government must not allow some groups to prevail over the welfare of children.