Row grows over 'designer babies'

The British public was today being given a say about whether it believes parents should be able to choose their baby's gender.

The debate is set to be heated, with the group Human Genetics Alert already calling for a ban on sex selection for any purpose other than to avoid serious
genetic disease, in line with the current laws.

But the regulatory body, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, is looking at the issue again in light of reports of British couples going overseas for sex selection treatments and because of new medical developments not regulated under UK law.

A new technique known as sperm sorting has emerged in which sperm are divided according to whether they carry male or female chromosomes so a woman can be inseminated with those mainly of the desired sex.

Sperm sorting at the moment is not regulated - nor banned - in the UK because it does not involve donor sperm or the creation of embryos outside the body.

This means there is nothing under the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act to stop a clinic opening up in the UK tomorrow offering this to couples.

The consultation document asks if it is right for people to be able to use assisted reproduction techniques to be able to choose the sex of their child and for what reasons.

The views of the general public, professionals and organisation are being sought and at the end of the three months the HFEA will give its advice.

Professor Tom Baldwin, deputy chairman of the HFEA, stressed: "The purpose of the consultation is not to help the HFEA decide if it should be allowed, It is to inform a public debate for Government and Parliament to decide."

Copies of the consultation are available from the HFEA.

Sex selection is possible at three stages - by abortion, through sperm sorting prior to conception and before an embryo created through IVF is transferred to a woman.

Professor Baldwin, Professor of philosophy at York University, said some people had a liberal approach to the idea as long as it did not harm anyone, while some felt it was "playing God", some suggested it was consumerist and others felt it could upset the balance of the sexes in society.

HGA's Director, Dr David King, said: "The creation of a new life is the most morally serious thing you can do. We must not let it become just another consumer choice.

"If we permit sex selection, we have not opened the door to designer babies a crack - we have flung the door wide open."

"There is no 'right' to choose your child's sex, because doing so harms society, and may well harm the child and the rest of the family...

"If you are not prepared to accept and parent either a boy or a girl, you should not be a parent."