Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015

Lord McAvoy Excerpts

Tuesday 24th February 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ribeiro]

In Oldham—quite right. From that one invention, nearly 5 million children have been born who otherwise would not have been because their parents were infertile. There was a strong religious lobby against it at the time; indeed, a lot of people were against it because it was interfering with the genesis of life. This fatal Motion seems to carry some of that feeling with it.

I am a mere surgeon. I had the opportunity to visit the Lister Fertility Clinic with a parliamentary group to learn a bit more about IVF and how it was carried out. I watched the technicians—not the doctors—who had gained expertise in intracytoplasmic sperm injection. That is the technique whereby you isolate the egg, find a lively sperm and then inject it straight into the cytoplasm. The technique that has been suggested for mitochondrial donation is not dissimilar from that. A lot of expertise has been gained over the years when that has been done. I heard the noble Baroness, Lady O’Loan, and, I think, my noble friend Lord Elton refer to the situation of donors.

[Lord McAvoy (Lab)]

The noble Lord seems to be saying that there is no difference between IVF and the mitochondrial process. However, IVF does not require the genetic modification of human eggs and embryos, or tampering with the contents of the egg or embryo itself. This technology requires both.

Health: Brittle Bone Society

Lord McAvoy Excerpts

Monday 6th June 2011 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Lord McAvoy]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they are supporting the Brittle Bone Society.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Earl Howe)]

My Lords, we welcome the important work of the Brittle Bone Society in raising awareness of this distressing condition and in providing advice and help to patients. We would be pleased to consider any request from the society for support.

[Lord McAvoy]

I am grateful to the Minister for that reply. As he is aware, the society works in the field of osteogenesis imperfecta, which is not to be confused with osteoporosis. I know the Minister is also aware that a particular problem in this field is the transition from childhood to adulthood and that there is definitely a doubt about the level of services. Will the Minister consider a request from me to receive a delegation, led by me and accompanied by the chief executive of the Brittle Bone Society, Mrs Patricia Osborne—who used to work for me in a former life—trustee John Phillips and Professor Nick Bishop, in order that the society can have an input into the development and allocation of services for that period from childhood to adulthood for those who suffer from this condition?

[Earl Howe]

My Lords, I should be more than happy to see the noble Lord and representatives of the Brittle Bone Society to discuss those matters. I am well aware of the issue he raises. I understand that when an application was made to designate specialised services for children with brittle bone disease as a national specialised service, no similar case was made for adult services. However, if the society or leading clinicians in this field now feel that an application should be made, we would be pleased to refer it to the Advisory Group for National Specialised Services against the normal criteria.