Feversham Committee
In 1958, a government committee known as the Feversham Committee was appointed "To enquire into the existing practice of human artificial insemination and its legal consequences; and to consider whether, taking account of the interests of the individuals involved and of society as a whole, any change in the law is necessary or desirable."
It was chaired by Charles Duncombe, 3rd Earl of Feversham and the meetings were held privately. The committee requested oral and written testimony from 100 organizations and individuals in Great Britain and worldwide. The responses they received were predominantly religious, with some medical and very little legal representation.
Its conclusions were published in July 1960.
Mary Barton was one of those who testified before the committee. At the time that the Feversham Committee surveyed the field, only six doctors in Britain regularly provided artificial insemination by donor, all in England: Bernard Sandler (Manchester), Margaret Jackson (Exeter), Mary Barton, Philip Bloom, Reynold Boyd, and Eleanor Mears (all in London). Artificial insemination was much more widely used in other countries, particularly in the United States and Israel.
The Feversham Committee's proceedings provide valuable indicators of how infertility and artificial insemination were viewed in Britain, by people holding a wide range of perspectives. Many of those who spoke to the commission had little experience in the practice of AID. Nonetheless, they often held strong views, and made their moral objections clear, even when they admitted to having little factual knowledge. It is clear that more couples sought assistance than could be treated. Sometimes doctors reported intentionally intimidating those seeking help. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh testified that "it is our intention to make the whole thing rather difficult". Those seeking and providing treatment - couples, donors, and doctors - were often pathologized.
That social stigma around artificial insemination was strong is illustrated by the words of Lord Blackford, who appealed to the House of Lords to "reject with horror this brain-wave of Beelzebub". Blackford had moved to make artificial insemination by donor illegal, as being a form of adultery, but in the end he withdrew his motion. He stated that his second objective, a full debate on the topic, had been achieved.
In this context, Lord Blackford's comments on Mary Barton, who he identified as "a leading exponent in this field", are of particular interest.
'I have had the great advantage of a long interview with Dr. Mary Barton. She is a most co-operative individual, who answered all questions with frank directness, or with vigorous rebuttal if she did not agree with me (which was often the case); she is devoted to her practice and utterly convinced that she confers a great benefit and happiness on all her patients. At the end of our interview, which lasted an hour and a half and was conducted in the presence of two other doctors, I asked her to what extent, if at all, I might quote her. After a moment's consultation with the doctors as to whether to allow her name to be used might be unethical, she looked at me directly and said, "You can repeat as much as you like; I have nothing to hide,"—altogether a most engaging personality.' —Lord Blackford, 26 February 1958
Others who read the Feversham Committee's report considered that, far from reflecting a full debate, it was lacking in necessary factual background,
"vague",
"superficial", "totally inadequate", and in the end "inconclusive". The committee clearly disliked the idea of AID. At the same time, they did not consider regulation practical, and feared to increase AID's visibility by giving it any form of official recognition.
