KHNic, I have looked at the issue largely from the mother's point of view, that's true. I guess I'm thinking that things like foetal drug and alcohol syndrome are conditions which take place in vitro, which means that the mother is the one passing on the condition. It is also often the mothers whom the children are most "bound" to - th state does all it can to keep mothers and children together, and it is usually mothers who take the decision to put their children in care, or have their children removed.

I'm afraid that, in these particular circumstances, I see the impact of unwanted pregnancy and of unmanaged contraception as being something which has most impact on the women and the children involved. "John" form Leicester is a one-off case, and yes, he had a vasectomy; his case kind of muddies the water for the less extreme, more managed approach of long-term contraception (not sterilisation) which I am suggesting deserves further exploration.