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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [Lords]

That is why my amendments would not remove the phrase ““supportive parenting”” from the Bill. I do not criticise those words, and that is why I did not put my name to the amendments tabled by my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green. My amendments would retain the phrase ““supportive parenting””, reinstate the need for a father and add a requirement for a ““male role model””. I shall explain why I have phrased those amendments like that. My amendments recognise that supportive parenting needs to be provided, and that various types of family unit exist. It is also important that clinics disseminate information on these matters, and my amendments would also reinstate the need to consider the role of a father or, in the absence of such a person, a male role model. The amendments would thereby emphasise the importance of father, while at the same time reflecting what happens in practice in clinics now. John Parsons is the lead consultant at the assisted conception unit at King's college hospital. He said:"““We like to know there will be men in these children's lives. They don't have to have a father, but they should at least have a male influence in their lives.””" Mr. Parsons is a clinician who provides fertility treatment every day, and who in essence is putting into practice the principle of my amendments.