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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

Until the noble Earl tabled his amendment, I thought that my own Amendments Nos. 58 and 59 might be thought rather provocative. But I am comforted that he has joined me in a similar sentiment and I hope to convince the Minister that being provocative was not my intention. Clause 14(3) extends the requirements under the 1990 Act in relation to the provision of counselling by fertility clinics. Whereas the 1990 Act requires all women receiving IVF treatment along with their male partners to be offered relevant counselling information, the Bill extends that to apply to same-sex couples. In addition, where a couple gives notice that they want the intended mother's partner to be treated as the parent of a child who is conceived by donor sperm, the treatment cannot be given to the intended mother until suitable counselling has been offered to both partners. We should be in no doubt how important counselling is in this context. The noble Baroness, Lady Hollis, spoke earlier about the need for prospective parents to internalise the practice and principles that are central to the welfare of children, and I fully agree. It is not unreasonable to propose that prospective parents should be required to receive certain information in that vein, but my concern chiefly centres on three types of case. The first case is where a woman and her male partner apply to receive donated gametes or embryos, the second is where two women make such an application, and the third is where an application is made by a single woman. All three cases have one feature in common—the child who is eventually born will not be the genetic offspring of at least one of the parents. In recent years, the donation of sperm or ova may have become commonplace—we may take it for granted—but we should never let ourselves forget that to bring a child into the world in circumstances where one or more of his genetic parents is kept deliberately secret and anonymous is to saddle that child with a grave psychological handicap from the moment when later in life he becomes aware of his origins. Parents of children conceived by donation need to be made aware of the vital importance of being absolutely honest with those children about the circumstances of their conception, the way in which the breaking of this news is best done and the most propitious timing for doing so. They need to be aware that, for many children, the trauma and hurt of this knowledge never leaves them. Some children spend the rest of their lives recovering from the blow to their sense of identity and agonising over the injustice of their circumstances compared with those of children who grew up with their true parents. If the news is conveyed ineptly or too late, children feel deceived and can end up being alienated from their parents. I have read a number of personal accounts by donor-conceived children who found out late or the wrong way about their true origins, and they make harrowing reading. Parents should not suppose for one second that their troubles are over the moment that the woman successfully conceives. They should be made to realise that the responsibility towards the child's future well-being is in one important sense even greater than it is for ordinary parents. By gratifying their own wish to bring up a child, which I do not mean to imply is an ignoble wish, they are storing up at the very least bewilderment and hurt for that child in future years. Counselling matters. If it is agreed that the imparting of this type of information and knowledge is important, if not essential, the question we need to ask is whether it is enough for the law to say merely that women or couples should be offered counselling. In my opinion, they should be made to receive at least a bare minimum of counselling as part of the deal that they have with the clinic, as a matter of course. I suspect that the Minister will tell me that it is not possible to force people to receive counselling, but I disagree. I hope very much that she will undertake to think about the proposal that I have made.