Information regarding mixed race parentage

You asked

Please may I request the following information, records and documentation under the Freedom of Information Act:

1. Information in regard to people of mixed race parentage- often called 'white and black Caribbean', 'white and black African', 'white and Asian', 'other mixed'- being at increased risk of being born with a birth defect, stillborn, or of suffering from fertility problems in their adult lives, which is related to their mixed race parentage

2. Information regarding NHS policy and practice on the advising of interracial couples, who are prospective parents, about the increased risk of their child being born with a birth defect, stillborn, or infertile in adult life, which would be connected to their, the child’s, mixed race parentage

   Please may I also request statistical information and records which display the following:

3. The percentage of overall cases of babies born with a birth defect, which is attributable to each ethnic group

4. The percentage of overall cases of babies still born, which is attributable to each ethnic group

5. The percentage of overall cases of infertility, which is attributable to each ethnic group

6. The percentage of overall births, which is attributable to each ethnic group

We said

Thank you for your query regarding birth defects, stillbirths and infertility in relation to ethnic groupings.

The Office for National Statistics hold information on births, stillbirths, deaths and causes of death. We also hold some ethnicity information on births, stillbirths and infant mortality. However we are unable to publish routine death data by ethnicity, as information on ethnicity is not available on the death certification.

You will find high level information regarding infant deaths, causes and ethnicity in Table 8 and Table 10 of the Gestation Specific Infant Mortality bulletin.

We have answered your questions as fully as we are able, using published data, below:

1. In Tables 8 and 10, mixed race is included in a single category of Mixed, Chinese and any other ethnic group. This is because the numbers in these groups are sufficiently low to risk being disclosive, and follows agreed statistical guidelines.
   a) being born with a birth defect – this information is shown in Table 10.
   b) being still born – this information is not published. However, you could request a special extract (further details of how to do this are explained below).
   c) we do not hold any information on infertility, and are therefore not able to answer your question about adults suffering from fertility problems, connected to their mixed race parentage.

2. We do not hold information regarding NHS policy and practice on the advising of interracial couples re risks of being born with a birth defect, stillborn or infertile in adult life connected to their or the child's mixed race parentage. Such information may be available from the NHS.

3. Table 10 shows the percentage of babies born with birth defects attributable to each ethnic group.

4. We do not publish information on the percentage of stillborn babies by ethnic group. However, you could request a special extract (further details of how to do this are explained below).

5. As with question 1.c) above, we do not hold fertility information to answer this question regarding the percentage of overall cases of infertility, which is attributable to each ethnic group.

6. Table 8 shows all births attributable to each ethnic group.

Further information on births and deaths can be obtained from the Life Events Analysis team. Special extracts and tabulations of births data for England and Wales are available to order (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs, where appropriate). Such enquiries should be made to: cim@ons.gov.uk. We recommend that you contact the Life Events Analysis team directly in order to discuss your data requirements in more detail.

As this information is already available to you via this route ONS considers that S21(1) applies to this request and the information does not have to be supplied under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. S21(1) is an absolute exemption and no consideration of the public interest test needs to be applied.