Steve Brine, Member of Parliament for Winchester and Chandler's Ford, has called for the Government to end discrimination against parents who have HIV.
The MP, who is also a Co-Chair of the All-Party Group for HIV and AIDS, explained during a session of oral questions to the Department for Health that many people living with HIV are currently excluded from accessing fertility treatment, both by law and the Government's microbiological safety guidelines.
Mr Brine said : "Women living with HIV of course have the right to healthcare on the same terms as anyone else, except that now they do not when it comes to starting a family."
He continued by asking ; "So will the Government now follow the scientific evidence, particularly on undetectable viral load, and remove what are surely discriminatory restrictions on the basis of HIV status?"
The Minister at the dispatch box, Maria Caulfield, responded : "Last year, we asked the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs to reconsider this specific issue. It set up a working group in June last year to look at it and we expect its recommendations this month. We will take them seriously and address them swiftly once we have its advice."
More information
