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Lesbian couples in the UK who conceive through IVF will both be able to appear on the birth certificate from next month.

From 6 April the birth mother can name any other consenting adult as a co-parent on the birth certificate, except for close blood relatives.

The new legislation means that both women in a lesbian relationship can have equal rights and responsibilities for the child from birth.

As the law currently stands, the husband in a heterosexual married couple undergoing IVF is automatically named as the legal father. This will be extended to civil partnerships from 6 April - if the mother is in a civil partnership, the partner will automatically be named as the co-parent unless there is a written objection.

The change to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 will only be applied to couples from 6 April 2009.

Lesbian couples who had IVF treatment before 6 April will not automatically have the non-biological mother named as a second parent, and would need to go through the adoption process to have the same legal rights.

The Act covers patients undergoing any fertility treatment that involves the use of donor sperm, embryos created using donor sperm or donor embryo. This includes donor insemination and IVF using donor sperm.

A spokeswoman for the HFEA recommended that lesbian couples should consider waiting until after 6 April to have fertility treatment.

“Obviously the present rules are the present rules,” she said. “If a lesbian couple, for example, were thinking about having IVF treatment they might be better off waiting until April because the rules about who they can name as a second parent will make things easier.”

Posted in: Health |