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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [Lords]

I thank the hon. Gentleman. I was going to give three brief examples relating to discrimination, but I shall now confine myself to two. In an e-mail, Natalie Gamble, a fertility lawyer dealing with discrimination cases, has stated:"““to say that no lesbian couples are denied treatment as a result of the need for a father provision is simply untrue. I have had five clients in the past year who have got in touch for advice after being denied access to treatment. In one case at a private clinic a couple were told that the waiting list for donor sperm was very long and they could not even be put on it because they were a same sex couple. In another case a primary care trust eligibility criteria for NHS funding stated explicitly that, due to the duty to consider the need for a father, lesbian couples were not eligible for funding even if they were infertile.””" That may or may not be the Birmingham case, but I can tell my hon. Friend the. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (John Hemming)—although he is no longer present—that the ““frequently asked question”” that he read out applied to private funders. The NHS eligibility criterion was discriminatory, which it should not have been because that is unlawful. Many clinics, including Bourn Hall—cited by the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) as being in his constituency—used to refuse lesbian couples, until they realised that they need the money. However, they no longer need the money, as lesbian couples are forced to pay because they cannot obtain NHS treatment. Another example from the same lawyer is an account by a client, whom I cannot name for obvious reasons but who says ““He””—I think that refers to the clinician—"““got out his criteria list, underlined the word 'heterosexual' and ringed the word 'stable' in the sentence 'Needs to have been in a ""stable heterosexual relationship of at least 2 years'. Later he also referred to the sentence at the bottom of the list of criteria which said 'Welfare of the child issues', saying 'It could also be seen as a welfare of the child issue'.””" Those are just two examples, but they explain why the Equality and Human Rights Commission has issued this statement:"““The central issue here is not fatherhood; it is fairness. The current legalised discrimination in the provision of IVF services is something that we should be ashamed of as a country. We agree with the Government that parliament should not let another day go by in which single women and lesbian couples are denied access to fertility treatment on exactly the same basis as everyone else.””" Even if they receive that treatment, they should receive it on the same basis as everyone else. The quotation continues:"““The Commission understands the importance of male role models for children, but believes that this is, in principle and in practice, a matter for the parents themselves, and not an issue for legislation. We shouldn't be the sort of authoritarian society””" —Trevor Phillips is saying this—"““ in which an 80 per cent. male House of Commons presumes to instruct women on how and with whom they bring children into the world.””"