Good Morning Britain’s gay surrogacy debate went as well as you’d expect
Lottie Daley and Barrie Drewitt-Barlow clashed over gay surrogacy (ITV)
A Good Morning Britain debate about gay men being offered IVF treatment by the NHS descended into chaotic yelling and “homophobic crackpot” accusations.
The argument between hypnobirthing teacher Lottie Daley and British Surrogacy Centre of America founder Barrie Drewitt-Barlow was prompted by news this week that a gay couple in Scotland is getting NHS-funded IVF for what is believed to be the first time in the UK.
The NHS had reportedly refused to give gay male couples the treatment before now because of a ban on funding treatment that involves use of a surrogate.
Watch the Good Morning Britain debate on gay surrogacy here:
Daley told GMB hosts Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Wednesday’s (January 30) show that she was against men using IVF on the NHS.
“I have no problem with same-sex relationships on principle, or in general at all,” she explained, “but when it comes to surrogacy, I think that it should be reserved for the mother.
“There’s a biological connection between a baby and its mother, and essentially we’re reducing women to nothing more than commodities.”
“If they want to access IVF, they should pay for it themselves. Women have the biological right to have babies.”
— Lottie Daley about gay surrogacy
She added: “If they want to access IVF, they should pay for it themselves. Women have the biological right to have babies.”
Daley also appeared to compare gay men having children to her getting a boob job.
She said: “Barrie, if I wanted my boobs done after having three children … I wouldn’t go to the NHS for it because it would be a lifestyle choice.”
This incurred the wrath of Drewitt-Barlow, who has five children with his husband Tony.
The guests repeatedly talked over each other (ITV)
He asked the GMB hosts: “Where on earth do you pull these crackpots from? Who is this woman?
“This is 2019, not 1619. Things have moved on.”
The gay surrogacy activist twice called Daley “homophobic” and explained to her and viewers that “it’s not that complicated.”
“This is against gay men. Gay women can use the NHS to get fertility treatment,” he added.
Government’s record on gay surrogacy is mixed
Last year, the UK government said it “supports surrogacy” for “LGBT+ parents wanting to create a family” while issuing guidance on the issue for the first time.
The Department of Health and Social Care released the guidelines after British Olympic diver Tom Daley announced he was expecting a child with husband Dustin Lance Black via surrogate.
And in 2013, the NHS updated its guidance so IVF could be made available to same-sex couples and single women with fertility issues in Scotland, England and Wales.
But, in practice, this amendment only benefited same-sex female couples because of the NHS’s ban on using surrogates.
Those wanting to access the free IVF treatment were required to show infertility by demonstrating that they had failed to get pregnant after a number of attempts using artificial insemination.
