CI: ‘Fertility treatment undermining family'

CI: ‘Fertility treatment undermining family’

Reproductive technology is increasingly undermining the traditional family, The Christian Institute has warned.

Latest figures from the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA) show that the number of female same-sex couples and single people having in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or donor insemination (DI) is on the rise.

DI involves the introduction of a donor’s sperm into the womb during ovulation. IVF usually involves removing multiple eggs from a woman’s ovaries, which are then fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. In IVF, unknown numbers of fertilised eggs are frozen, stored and subsequently destroyed.

Data

Between 2012 and 2022, the number of single women receiving fertility treatment increased from 1,400 to 4,800.

In the same period, the number of female same-sex couples receiving IVF or DI more than doubled from 1,300 to 3,300.

Since 2019, the number of female same-sex couples having IVF has risen by 35 per cent, while the number of single patients undergoing the procedure increased by 82 per cent.

The 2022 HFEA report stated that “single patients accounted for the largest proportion of patients undergoing DI for the first time (50%), followed by patients in female same-sex (41%) and heterosexual relationships (12%)”.

HFEA wants more

HFEA Chairwoman Julia Chain said: “While the number of female same-sex couples and single patients having fertility treatment continues to rise, we continue to see lower rates of NHS-funded treatment.” She encouraged those who commission fertility services to “review their eligibility criteria”.

But the Institute’s Director, Ciarán Kelly, urged caution: “These worrying statistics illustrate how far we’ve strayed as a society from valuing family and doing what is best for children rather than ourselves. Having a child is a precious responsibility, not a right.

“As the evidence from around the world consistently warns us, we devalue man-woman marriage and the role of fathers, at our peril.

“Let’s also not forget that each embryo – made in the lab, stored as a ‘spare’, and eventually destroyed – is a human life, created in the image of God.”

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Embryo with needle