Certificate of Loss Bill [HL]

1 Voluntary certificate of loss

(1)

The registrar must, upon receiving a written request from a person who has
miscarried a child or given birth to a still-born child, issue a certificate
(“certificate of loss”) to that person, where the miscarried or still-born child
is not eligible to be registered under section 1 of the Births and Deaths
Registration Act 1953 (particulars of births to be registered) and the criterion
in subsection (2) is met.

(2)

The criterion is that a medical professional has confirmed that the person
who requested a certificate was pregnant and miscarried that child or gave
birth to a still-born child.

(3)

The certificate of loss issued under subsection (1) must contain the following
information—

(a)

if available, the age of the miscarried or still-born child, based on scans
and medical dating;

(b)

the name of the parent or parents of the miscarried or still-born child;

(c)

the date on which the child was miscarried or the still-born child was
born;

(d)

any other information that the Secretary of State may by regulations
made by statutory instrument specify.

(4)

The Secretary of State must, by regulations made by statutory instrument, set
up a publicly accessible database for archiving certificates of loss issued under
this section .

(5)

Where a person requests a certificate of loss under subsection (1) , the registrar
must archive the certificate of loss, and record the cause of the miscarriage
or still-birth if the cause is known, in the database established under subsection
(4) .

(6)

The Secretary of State must, by regulations made by statutory instrument,
designate a body to fulfil the function of registrar under this section .

(7)

A statutory instrument containing regulations under this section may not be
made unless a draft of the instrument has been laid before and approved by
a resolution of each House of Parliament.

2 Interpretation

In this Act—

“
miscarried child” means a child which, due to either natural causes or
the mother’s choice, has passed away and been expelled by the
mother’s body without any signs of life, or has passed away and been
retained by the mother’s body and is then expelled by the mother’s
body or removed by process of medication or surgery without signs
of life, and the expressions “miscarriage” and “miscarried” shall be
construed accordingly;

“
still-born child” means a child which, due to either natural causes or
the mother’s choice, has issued forth from its mother after a pregnancy
and which did not at any time after being completely expelled from
its mother breathe or show any other signs of life, and the expression
“still-birth” shall be construed accordingly;

“
written request”, in respect of a request for a certificate of loss, means
a request made in writing using a form submitted by the person who
has miscarried a child or given birth to a still-born child to the
registrar, and confirmed by a registered medical professional.

3 Extent, commencement and short title

(1)

This Act extends to England and Wales only.

(2)

Section 1 of this Act comes into force at the end of the period of twelve
months beginning with the day on which it is passed.

(3)

Section 2 and this section come into force on the day on which this Act is
passed.

(4)

This Act may be cited as the Certificate of Loss Act 2022.