On April 6th the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 will come into effect in the UK.  As part of this act the names of both members of a lesbian couple taking IVF treatment will be automatically added to the child’s birth cert.  The act also allows the nomination of a second parent by single mothers.  In this way the acts allows for any person to be named as a parent, assuming they are not to closely related and of course, give consent.

Through this law the “second parent” is given all the same rights and obligations as any other parent.  Of course this move has it’s critics,

Baroness Ruth Deech, a former chair of the HFEA, is quoted as saying “What I object to is the falsification of the birth certificate. It is supposed to be a true record of the genetic origins of birth.”

No surprises that there are people like that out there but I for one think this is a great move forward for parenting in general.  Hopefully, in time, people will see parenting for what it is, and always has been, one or more people caring for a child throughout it’s life, rather than a mere blood link.

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