The Family Council of Victoria is deeply concerned about the imminent creation of another stolen generation.

We as a nation have agonised over the past removal of aboriginal children from their biological parents and the unwilling removal of babies from their unmarried mothers at birth. Thankfully both have stopped except in instances of severe abuse.

The Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill will encourage this same disconnect from biological parents that we have condemned in the past, for different reasons, yes, but ones that are just as bad if not even worse than any reasons given in the past.

Be assured this Bill will create yet another stolen generation. A generation of children deprived of the right to be raised from birth by their genetic parents. Removing the biological parent/s, the child’s mum and/or dad, from the child’s birth certificate is totally unacceptable.

This Bill should not be about adults, it IS about children and natural families - the right of every child to be born into its natural family.

It is one thing to say that some children, although it is a very small minority, do not get to know their biological parents through various unfortunate circumstances. It is a very different issue to deliberately bring a child into the world knowing that it will never know, or perhaps at best not know for 18 years, who its biological parent or parents are. This is unconscionable.

The simple fact that science can achieve something does not mean we have to allow it to happen.

This is not discrimination it common sense. Single women, lesbians and homosexual men can all have children through the natural process. Nobody is telling anyone they cannot have children, simply that there is a right and a wrong way of doing so.

It is not the place of government to be facilitating the unnatural creation of children by legislating in this way.

We call on you to protect the rights of all children and to stop another stolen generation.

We call on you to vote against the Assisted Reproductive Technology Bill.