Confusion on assisted conception law timing

The move was a campaign promise by President Macron who said there was “no legal justification for PMA not being available” to single women and same-sex couples although he said it needed approval from the national ethics committee and a real discussion in society.

After the ethics committee backed the plan, Equality Min­ister Marlène Schiappa said it would start in 2018.

But Health Minister Agnès Buzyn said it would need to wait for the rewrite of the Bioethics Law and Interior Minister Gérard Collomb suggested “resolving the problem of unemployment” before looking at “problems of civilisation”.

Ms Schiappa later said that she was looking towards the end of 2018 for the proposals being debated along with the revision of the bioethics law.