Case No. FD21F00068

” [emphasis added]. 13.Both parents also completed separate WT forms giving their respective consent to treatment and storage. The father completed his on 22 October 2020 and the mother hers on 6 December 2020. Within his form the father ticked ‘yes’ to the following: “Consent to birth registration Complete this part of section six if you consented to your sperm, or embryos created outside the body with your sperm, being used in your partner’s treatment after your death. If you have given your consent to your sperm or embryos (to be created outside the body with your sperm) being used after your death, you may also wish to consent to being registered as the legal father of any child that is born as a result of your partner’s treatment. 6.5 Do you consent to being registered as the legal father of any child born as a result of your partner’s treatment after your death? By ticking yes, you consent to the following: • I consent to my name, place of birth and occupation being entered on the register of births as the legal father of any child born from my partner’s treatment. This register is kept under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, or the Births and Deaths Registration (Northern Ireland) Order 1976, or the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965. • I also consent to information about my or my partner’s treatment being disclosed to my partner and one of the following registrars: - the Registrar General for England and Wales - the Registrar General for Scotland - the Registrar for Northern Ireland. Please note that being recorded in the register of births as the legal father of a child born from your partner’s treatment does not transfer any inheritance or other legal rights to the child.”14.On 25 October 2020 further forms were signed by the parents. Both signed their own separate CD forms entitled ‘Your consent to disclosing identifying information’ and the father signed a GS form entitled ‘Your consent to the storage of your eggs or sperm’.15.The planned procedure took place on 6 November 2020, unfortunately the sperm sample retrieved was not suitable for treatment or freezing.16.At a review appointment on 9 November 2020, the option of donor sperm was discussed, the parents decided they wished to pursue this option, with treatment starting in early 2021.17.Both parents completed and signed separate ‘Welfare of the child: patient history form’ on 11 November 2020.18.On 3 December 2020 the parents attended a telephone counselling appointment with the Clinic’s senior counsellor, to discuss the implications of using donor sperm. This included discussing legal parenthood and both parents agreed the father being treated as the legal father of any child born as a result of their treatment.19.On 4 December 2020 the Clinic issued an HFEA PBR form entitled ‘Your consent to being registered as the legal parent in the event of your death’. The father completed and signed this form on 6 December 2020. The Clinic accepts that this form should not have been sent to the father, as the parents were not married and that he should have been sent a PP Form. In her statement Dr Gadd accepts that this error came about as the Clinic’s computer system had the father marked as ‘married’ and the assumption was the parents were married to each other.20.Reliance is placed on a number of parts of the PBR form, as set out in the skeleton argument:One of the warnings at the beginning of the form has been drafted in a deficient way: “If you are using donor sperm but are not married or in a civil partnership, you should complete the ‘Your consent to being the legal parent’ (PP) form and not this form.” A clearer way of expressing this would be to include the following: “If you are using donor sperm but are not married or in a civil partnership [to/with your treatment partner], you should complete the ‘Your consent to being the legal parent’ (PP) form and not this form.” Para.2.1 states as follows: