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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

The noble Lord, Lord Warner, three times referred to the symbolic effect of this clause and the noble Lord, Lord Northbourne, and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, talked about the message that would go out from this House. But symbols can, of course, be interpreted in different ways, and they can be interpreted in very different ways by different constituencies. The noble and learned Baroness said that fathers’ organisations in this country would feel undermined if we no longer had in the Bill the phrase, "““including the need of that child for a father””." That may very well be so; I listened with great respect and attention to what she said. However, the symbolic effect of this clause bears most directly, year after year, on people seeking IVF. That is where the symbolic effect will come home with startling clarity. We must ask about the effect of agreeing to this amendment on people who are seeking IVF. We are all agreed that fatherhood brings a huge amount to a family; that is not in doubt. As has been said time and again, the studies continually reinforce that. But we all know—I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Winston, will say something about this—about the studies that show the even more important effect of a stable and loving environment and of supportive relationships, whatever the sex. In weighing the symbolic effect of what we do today, I ask the Committee to take into account the symbolic effect not only upon the wider public, however this is reported, but on people who, year after year, seek in vitro fertilisation treatment.