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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

While my noble friend is thinking about that, I rise to give him thinking space. We should not immediately cast aside the idea of the noble Baroness, Lady Tonge; if a woman wishes to have state aid to help to conceive a child, the state surely has a duty to that child. If the state considers that a second parent is necessary, it surely needs to ensure that the couple are capable of maintaining the child in the state that it is entitled to expect. That surely requires a signature on a piece of paper and an undertaking by both parties, whatever their sex.