Department of Health to look at the report of “Designer baby’s�?

A REPORT by Science and Technology Select Committee, calling for parents to be given the right to choose their baby’s sex, has divided the MPs behind it.

Five of the 10 members would not put their names to the paper, which says IVF mums and dads should have the last word on embryo screening and selection.

Tory MP Bob Spink and Labour members Paul Farrelly, Kate Hoey, Tony McWalter and Geraldine Smith were the five MPs who opposed the plans.

The rebels branded the report “Frankenstein”, unbalanced and said it ignored the dignity of human life.

Critics say sex selection would turn unborn babies into “consumer items” and could pave the way for parents choosing other characteristics such as hair or eye color.

The Department of Health said it would look at the proposals, but take into account the split in opinion with committee members.

“The use and destruction of embryos does raise ethical issues and there are grounds for caution,” the report concluded, but added: “On balance we find no adequate justification for prohibiting the use of sex selection for family balancing.”

The report, which makes recommendations into the future of Britain’s 15-year-old fertility laws, also said controversial research, such as implanting human cells into animals, should be considered subject to regulation.

Under current law, sex selection is allowed if there is a risk of gender-linked disease such as muscular dystrophy or hemophilia.

At the moment in the UK, sex selection is only permitted if there are strict medical reasons. This could be because there is a serious sex-linked disorder in the family, such as Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy.

But the MPs say that people who, say, have all boys and want to have a girl should be able to do so.

IVF, fertility clinics, and decisions about cloning embryos for medical purposes or creating “designer babies” to save a sick sibling, all currently come under the auspices of the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority.

The HFEA’s remit is based on the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act, published in 1990.
Since then, science has advanced beyond anything dreamt of 15 years ago, and there have been a concern that now means the HFEA is not the best organization to perform all the roles currently assigned to it.

The Science and Technology Committee report says the HFEA should be abolished in its current form, and replaced with a Regulatory Agency for Fertility and Tissues, to inspect clinics and laboratories and ensure they meet technical and management standards.

It also says there should be stronger professional regulation, and more government and Parliamentary consideration of ethical and legal issues.

The committee also says decisions about when to use technology to check embryos for genetic conditions, or to see if they are a match for a sick sibling should be made by patients and doctors, and overseen by local ethics committees, rather than by a national watchdog.