Scotland considers sidelining children’s welfare by liberalising IVF

The Scottish Government is reviewing whether to allow single women to undergo IVF via the NHS.

Currently, couples who have been together for two years can apply for the procedure. This includes those in same-sex relationships.

IVF, or in vitro fertilisation, usually involves removing multiple eggs from a woman’s ovaries, which are then fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. But unknown numbers of fertilised eggs are frozen, stored and subsequently destroyed.

Fatherlessness

The National Fertility Group is set to announce its recommendations next summer, but The Christian Institute’s Head of Communications Angus Saul criticised the proposals.

“Evidence repeatedly shows that children benefit most from growing up with a mother and a father – they are more likely to have a better education, better employment outcomes, and are less likely to get involved in crime.

“When single parenthood is forced upon someone, that is a very difficult situation, and that person needs support. But it is not something the Government should be encouraging or facilitating. Children need fathers just as much as they need mothers. Intentionally depriving them of either is deeply wrong.

“Children are not trophies to be collected or commodities to be purchased. It would be a grave misstep for the Scottish Government to make this official policy.”

“Society is built on man-woman marriage. That is what our governments should be promoting, not this.”

Parenthood

In July, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) found that marriage remains the best indicator of family stability.

The think-tank concluded that despite several factors, including education and employment status, there was only a 26 per cent probability of married parents in the lowest income quintile of splitting up, in contrast to 46 per cent for cohabitees in the highest income quintile.

Reflecting on the findings, the CSJ said “that family stability is not simply a reflection of economic advantage but is strongly associated with marriage itself”.

“The Government should therefore act to remove barriers to marriage, integrate family stability into its poverty strategy, and strengthen support for couples in the early years of parenthood. These reforms are not only socially important but fiscally prudent, addressing the root causes of disadvantage rather than its symptoms.”