Surrogacy Law and Legal Parenthood
Debate between Mark Pritchard and Josh Newbury(2Â weeks ago)
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Josh Newbury
The hon. Lady and I are very much on the same wavelength; I was about to move on to that. On the carefully formulated proposals the Law Commission came forward with, it has been through that debate and has struck a fair balance. It recommended a new regulated pathway under which intended parents could become legal parents from birth, but with screening and safeguards, while retaining parental orders for cases where court involvement is still necessary, as we have heard.
I would like to acknowledge and thank the 268 of my Cannock Chase constituents who signed the petition—the highest number of signatures in the west midlands. I do not know the individual circumstances of those signatories: some might have experienced infertility, some might be part of the LGBT community and some might simply believe that our laws should better reflect the reality of modern families. However, the signatures of our constituents right across the country show us that this issue touches many more lives than we realise.
I therefore welcome the Government’s recognition that the current pathway and delay to legal parenthood can cause some uncertainty. My ask is simply that we move the conversation and the debate forward. Will the Minister tell us whether discussions are taking place about how we might modernise the system and make sure our courts deal with the cases that genuinely require their time, while retaining the safeguards that matter to surrogates and children? Call me naive, Mr Pritchard, but I believe we can do both, and I hope this rich debate can be a step towards getting the balance right.
Mark Pritchard (in the Chair)
No west midlands Member of Parliament is naive, so don’t worry about that.