IVF GUIDELINES that require couples to be deemed responsible parents before doctors can treat them are expected to be relaxed significantly under a policy review by the Government’s fertility watchdog.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is considering plans to ease its rules on the future welfare of test-tube babies, and will today announce a public consultation on the issue.

Before offering fertility treatment, clinics are obliged by law to take account of the welfare of children who may be born as a result, and the HFEA’s code of practice interprets this very broadly.

As well as considering any medical risk to these children, doctors must take “reasonable steps” to show that prospective parents are responsible, that they can provide a “stable and supportive environment”, and that they have the “age, health and ability” to provide for any offspring.

While the legal requirement cannot be changed without parliamentary approval, the HFEA is ready to revise its tough reading of the law.

Critics of the present system argue that the procedures are time-consuming and expensive, and that it is often impossible to collect the information. They also contend that it is unfair to patients, who would not have to submit to any such checks were they capable of conceiving a child through natural means.

Under the most radical proposal under discussion, to which HFEA officials are understood to be sympathetic, doctors would have only to consider medical factors that might affect a child’s welfare.

These might include the risk of an infectious disease such as HIV being passed on, but would exclude broader social or psychological issues.

An intermediate option in the consultation document would also require doctors to take into account couples’ mental health, drug habits and criminal convictions.

The third proposal is to maintain the status quo, so that a wide range of medical, social and psychological factors are assessed.

“These social factors might include the age and health of the prospective parent(s), the stability of the family environment and, where there will be no legal father, the mother’s ability to meet the child’s needs,” the document says.

Suzi Leather, chairwoman of the HFEA, said that the review aimed to balance the rights of infertile couples to seek treatment with the future wellbeing of children conceived through IVF.

“There must be a reasonable, proportionate, fair and practical system that delivers an appropriate level of protection for children without unjustifiably hindering the treatment of people who need medical help in having a child. We have to strike a difficult balance between the interests of prospective parents and the needs of children.”

Angela McNab, the authority’s chief executive, said: “From speaking to patients and clinics we know that there are some specific areas where there is scope for improvement.”

The consultation will run until April, with public meetings already arranged in London, Manchester and Glasgow, and new guidelines will be published in the summer.

Mohammed Taranissi, director of the Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre in London, said that the rules had long needed revision.

“We as doctors are not really qualified to make assessments of people’s suitability as parents,” he said. “Why should we have to enforce this just because people have fertility problems? If this is really important it should apply across the board, to anyone who is considering starting a family.”

Josephine Quintavalle, of the pressure group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said the guidelines needed to be strengthened. “At present the guidelines are more or less optional,” she said. “We would like to see the law made much more restrictive.”

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HOW ONE IN A HUNDRED IS BORN

• One in six couples has fertility problems
• IVF births in Britain account for 1 per cent of all births
• Since the first IVF baby was born in 1978, more than 68,000 children have been born using this method
• Cost of treatment ranges from £2,000 to £4,000 per cycle, and the drugs can cost an additional £1,000
• About 25 per cent of IVF treatments are provided by the NHS. Funding is at the discretion of local health authorities
• The success (live birth) rate for patients of all ages was about 22 per cent; for patients under 38 it was about 25 per cent

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