Samples were only be collected from babies with permission from a parent. This permission could only be given by parents with legal parental responsibility for their child, and where the baby was living with them as their main household. We only require one parent to agree to this.
Legal responsibility describes the legal rights and responsibilities that a parent has by law in relation to their child. Biological and adoptive parents have legal responsibility for their children. Step-parents and other guardians do not have legal responsibility by default, but can acquire legal responsibility through a parental responsibility agreement or a court order, a child arrangements order, or by becoming the child’s legal guardian or special guardian.