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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

My Lords, it will not have escaped the Minister’s notice that, with regard to the issue of principle that we are discussing—namely, the need to be open with the donor-conceived child—there is unanimity around the Chamber. I should like very briefly to add to the weight of that opinion. I begin by saying how very much I support the amendment in the name of my noble friend Lord Jenkin. As he and others have said, a number of us initially thought that it might be possible to devise a way of satisfying the child’s right to know by ensuring that the child’s birth certificate made clear in some way the fact of his birth status. It became apparent from the Government’s response and from private discussions that however it is dressed up, this is not an idea that Ministers are willing to accept, mainly on human rights grounds. It would be helpful to hear from the Minister exactly why that is; there are a lot of people out there who are unclear and unsure about the precise arguments. I understand, of course, that a couple who have become parents through receipt of donor sperm believe strongly that they have a right to privacy and that it is no part of the state’s function to interfere in their family life. However, it is at least highly questionable whether the rights of parents on that matter are of a comparable magnitude to those of donor-conceived children. I would maintain that they are not, which is why many of us have been trying so hard to find a way through the problem. In Committee I also argued that whenever a woman requests IVF treatment involving donor sperm or ova, she should receive mandatory counselling. At present the Bill merely specifies that the woman and her partner should be given an opportunity to receive such counselling. Disappointingly, that idea was kicked into touch by the Minister. It is, however, very welcome to see the government amendment to Clause 23, which appears to go part of the way at least towards that objective. I hope that I understand the amendment correctly and that it is the Government’s intention to make it mandatory for anyone seeking treatment at a clinic to receive certain relevant information as part of the process of giving their informed consent. In other words, the woman and her partner would not only have to read and digest the information; they would need to assimilate and accept it. If that is right, it would certainly be a step forward. I thank the Minister for listening to the concerns I expressed in our earlier debate on the subject. However, I am going to sound a little like Oliver Twist because I do not think the amendment goes quite far enough, which is why I have tabled Amendment No. 129 as an amendment to it. This amendment specifies that included in the information received by people who request IVF treatment by donor, there needs to be a section making clear the critical importance of being open with the child about the circumstances of his conception and another section pointing the couple towards sources of advice designed to make it easier for them to approach the very sensitive process of actually breaking the news to the child. We have heard powerful contributions from the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, and the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, on that point. The key elements here are the absolute necessity of explaining why it matters so desperately to a donor-conceived child to be told the truth, what happens to the child if he is not told the truth but discovers it for himself by accident, and what is at stake in terms of the trust placed in the parents by the child—trust that will vanish for ever if the child finds out that he has been deceived. The parents have to be taken through all of this—that is the point. While I have to recognise the reality that counselling will not be made compulsory, I hope that the process of obtaining informed consent will encourage couples to ask for counselling. Parents need to understand that bringing up a donor-conceived child carries with it some particularly onerous responsibilities that should not be ducked. I hope the Minister will consider my amendment in a positive way.