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Single women and lesbians in the UK will soon be entitled to have fertility treatment like their married or heterosexual counterparts.
Patricia Hewitt, the health secretary, is going to propose a change in the law so that women can get IVF treatment without having to fulfil a legal requirement that the child has a father figure.
The present law demands that doctors take account of the role of the father in the child’s life before offering fertility treatment to women, either on the National Health Service or in private practice.
However doctors, politicians and gay rights groups believe this view is too old fashioned. Family units have now changed to include single mums or lesbian partners they claim. The new proposals, which are to be outlined in the Queen’s speech next week, aim to fill the current law’s lacunae and go against the government’s equality bill.
Ministers believe the present obligation to consider a child’s need for a father contradicts the equality bill that outlaws the refusal to provide goods or services on grounds of sexual orientation. It also goes against the Human Rights Act, which sets out an individual’s right to a family life and freedom from discrimination.
“The dropping of this discriminatory and unnecessary provision is long overdue,” said Dr Evan Harris, a Liberal Democrat MP and a member of the Commons and science and technology committee.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the body that regulates fertility treatment has welcomed the proposal.
However, The Sunday Times reported that family campaigners are expected to oppose the revision of the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.
“The current act merely says that the need for a father should be taken into account. To eliminate even this token gesture towards the role of the father is an example of gender correctness at its most ridiculous and discriminates against men,” said Josephine Quintavalle, of Comment on Reproductive Ethics.
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