The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority - a stacked deck

Schedule 1 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill refers to Amendments to Schedule 1 to the 1990 Act relating to membership of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority

After paragraph 4 (appointment of members) insert— “4A (1) A person (“P”) is disqualified for being appointed as chairman, deputy chairman, or as any other member of the Authority if— a) P is the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order or interim order,

In other words the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority continues virtually unchanged as the in house self regulatory body which is laughably described as , " the UK's independent regulator overseeing safe and appropriate practice in fertility treatment and embryo research." Anyway after a searching examination of how it works they have decided bankrupts need not apply.

Independent my bottom. It is simply packed with workers in the highly profitable IVF business and their boosters. Half the members are avowedly workers in the field of IVF and human embryology , the remainder are supposed to be lay members ....

For example: The Chairman of the HFA is solicitor Walter Merrick the UK's Financial Ombudsman, ideal independent? Well up to a point. Lord Copper, he and his wife have two children conceived by donor insemination, after having discovered that he was infertile. Together with other families they founded the Donor Conception Network in 1993, a self-help charity that supports parents of donor-conceived children and those contemplating treatment. The network has over 900 members.

Member Clare Brown discovered she had fertility problems in 1978. Over the next eight years, she had three attempts at tubal surgery and four at IVF, all of which failed. In 1985, she was successful in adopting her two children, James and Holly, who are now aged 22 and 21 respectively.

Having been a member of the national infertility support network CHILD for three years, she joined its National Management Committee in 1984, holding the posts of Membership Secretary and Chair until 1989, when she became Executive Director. She was then appointed Chief Executive of Infertility Network UK in 2003 when the charities CHILD and ISSUE merged.

Rebekah Dundas works for the Lottery, ideal independent? She has six years experience of infertility investigations and treatment. In October 2006 her son, Matthew, was born following donor IVF.

Ms Sharmila Nebhrajani is a finance and business professional with extensive experience across a range of sectors in strategy, mergers and acquisitions and business operations. She began her career as a management consultant with Coopers & Lybrand. Sharmila studied Physiological Sciences at Oxford. She has maintained a keen interest in science since graduating in 1988 and has been a lay member of the Authority since 1998. She is also member of the Human Tissue Authority.

This last is of interest, as the Human Tissue Authority will merge with the HFEA as a result of the new legislation - which further removes the moral issues from decision making, the handling of embryos a purely technical/clinical/laboratory matter.

This of course ties in with the just announced suggestion for opt out on organ donation - "oh Mrs Smith we just want to do some tissue typing on your very ill husband/son/mother as she has very good kidneys for which we already have a patient".

The proper purpose for the use of human eggs is the production of human babies by humans. Their use for any other purpose is a needless and unwarranted use of living tissue.

IVF along with abortion are the twin agencies which have dehumanised us as parents and brought in their wake many (apparently intractable) social problems.

Want to know more about the HFEA members? Go to their website. Religious voice? One. Lord Harries (retired) Bishop of Oxford the BBC's rent a sermon man, one of the great and the not very good - unelected member of the House of Lords to follow on his membership as a Bishop.

Every decision the HFEA makes is unanimous, there is never a voice of dissent.