Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 and (b) Articles (i) 42 and (ii) 43 of that Act on same-sex, non-married or civil partnered couples who both wish to included on their child’s birth certificate.

Section 42 and 43 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 provide a framework of protection from disputes over legal parenthood. These provisions allow female couples who are married or in a civil partnership, or who have undertaken treatment in a United Kingdom licenced clinic, to both register as parents. Fertility treatment in an UK licenced clinic also offers important health screening protections and access for donor-conceived children to information about their genetic origins through the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s register.

There are no current plans to review these provisions in the Act.