Mitochondrial Replacement (Public Safety)

Jim Cunningham Excerpts

Monday 1st September 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Jim Cunningham (Coventry South) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is probably necessary for the Government to bring proposals to the House for us to consider? There is not a lot of understanding about the disease outside the House and the public could be better informed, whichever way the decision goes.

[Mrs Glindon]

I agree. There is probably not enough understanding within the House, either.

The Minister had previously said:

“licensed fertility clinics are only required to report instances of OHSS to the authority that require a hospital admission with a severe grading, although in practice clinics often report moderate OHSS as well.”—[Official Report, 24 June 2014; Vol. 583, c. 157W.]

The figures that do exist indicate there has been a small recent increase both in the total number of recorded cases and in those cases categorised as “severe” rather than “moderate”. About 50,000 women go through IVF in the UK each year. The fact that we do not collect proper data on a potentially life-threatening condition that may affect a third of them, seems an astonishing oversight in the collection of official health statistics. Mandatory reporting of all cases is an essential first step in this process, but should only be the start of more effective and careful collection of statistics.

This issue has a particular pertinence at present because of proposed changes to the law on mitochondrial transfer and the Government’s stated intention to allow the creation of three-parent embryos. I am sure that many Members may be struggling to get to grips with the details of this procedure, but simply put both of the techniques used in mitochondrial transfer require a significant supply of donor eggs. Any such eggs will have to come from women who have been through controlled ovarian hyper-stimulation, with all the attendant risks.