IVF hearing on hold after peer collapses

A hearing aimed at making gay and lesbian parenting easier in the future has attracted further criticism and was adjourned after a peer collapsed in the House of Lords yesterday.

The move was aimed at making the need for a father at IVF clinics unnecessary.

The Lords however said it should uphold the importance of both parents.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill contains new rules that will allow the gay and lesbian couples to become the legal parents of a child conceived through donated sperm, eggs or embryos.

According to the BBC, Lord Darzi had said earlier that it was important to change the law to make sure it "was reflective of modern society."

He said the Bill would "update the regulation of assisted reproduction to ensure it is both effective and also reflective of modern society."

Lord Dazi added: "The Bill includes clear recognition of same-sex couples as legal parents of children conceived through use of donated sperm, eggs or embryos."

Lib Dem peer Baroness Tonge said children could be brought up "very well indeed without either parent in some circumstances."

She added: "My party has never discriminated against gay people – which this debate is really about – and we will therefore support the removal of these words."

Labour Peer Lord Brennan, 65, collapsed and required heart massage before the second hearing of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill was adjourned to a later date.

Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Tory party, said on Sunday that the proposals remove the need for a father and therefore threaten society.

Fourt-five Labour MPs have signed a motion saying the bill is "profoundly misinformed and clearly undermine the best interests of the child" and the leader of Britain's Catholic Church, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, has said the bill is "profoundly wrong.