Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Thornton on 19 January (WA 224–5), whether the use of women's eggs for research is considered a serious matter by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority; and how the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Acts provide for an egg producing an embryo by parthenogenesis.
Answer
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that, regarding the use of eggs for research, it has nothing to add to the information that I gave in my Written Answer of 19 January 2010 (Official Report, cols. WA 224-5). The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, applies to embryos, whether created by means of fertilisation or by parthenogenesis. The HFEA has advised that the response from Dr Alexandra Plows and others, to which the noble Lord refers, was received and considered during the authority's public consultation in 2006. It is referred to in Annexe D to the paper to which the noble Lord also refers. The HFEA has advised that the document Summary of Edinburgh Meeting, to which the noble Lord refers, is a publicly available document. In respect of the noble Lord's final Question, the HFEA has advised that it understands this reference to relate to a written account of the authority's annual conference 2005, by Dr Neville Cobb, published on the website of the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics. The HFEA has no comment to make about third-party accounts of its proceedings.