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12/11/2003
Baby gender selection should only be allowed on medical grounds
Using fertility techniques to choose the gender of one's offspring should only ever be made on medical grounds, a leading science authority has said today.
The current policy of only allowing sex selection to avoid serious sex-linked disorders should continue said the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), but sex selection techniques involving sperm sorting should be regulated in the UK.
In its report published today, the agency found that 80% of people in the UK did not want sex selection techniques to be made available for non-medical reasons.
The HFEA made its call after a year-long review on sex selection which took into account both public and expert opinion on the use of sex selection as well as specially commissioned research on the scientific, technical, social and ethical issues.
The HFEA undertook the review on sex selection at the request of the Minister for Public Health. Part of this review was an HFEA public consultation, funded by the Department of Health, which also found overwhelming support for sex selection techniques to be regulated. At the moment some of these techniques, those which involve sperm sorting, are not regulated.
HFEA Chair Suzi Leather said: “We have found this a difficult issue. It has taken us over a year to reach conclusions because of their far-reaching nature. But it is clear that most people are against sex selection for social reasons. The HFEA has to balance the potential benefit of any technique against the potential harm. We are not persuaded that the likely benefits of permitting sex selection for social reasons are strong enough to outweigh the possible harm that might be done.”
The Chairman of the BMA's Ethics Committee, Dr Michael Wilks, welcomed the report and said: "The BMA believes that sex selection should only be used for medical reasons, for example, to avoid the birth of a child with a severe disorder that only affects one sex.
"Sex selection purely for social reasons is unacceptable."
(gmcg)
The current policy of only allowing sex selection to avoid serious sex-linked disorders should continue said the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), but sex selection techniques involving sperm sorting should be regulated in the UK.
In its report published today, the agency found that 80% of people in the UK did not want sex selection techniques to be made available for non-medical reasons.
The HFEA made its call after a year-long review on sex selection which took into account both public and expert opinion on the use of sex selection as well as specially commissioned research on the scientific, technical, social and ethical issues.
The HFEA undertook the review on sex selection at the request of the Minister for Public Health. Part of this review was an HFEA public consultation, funded by the Department of Health, which also found overwhelming support for sex selection techniques to be regulated. At the moment some of these techniques, those which involve sperm sorting, are not regulated.
HFEA Chair Suzi Leather said: “We have found this a difficult issue. It has taken us over a year to reach conclusions because of their far-reaching nature. But it is clear that most people are against sex selection for social reasons. The HFEA has to balance the potential benefit of any technique against the potential harm. We are not persuaded that the likely benefits of permitting sex selection for social reasons are strong enough to outweigh the possible harm that might be done.”
The Chairman of the BMA's Ethics Committee, Dr Michael Wilks, welcomed the report and said: "The BMA believes that sex selection should only be used for medical reasons, for example, to avoid the birth of a child with a severe disorder that only affects one sex.
"Sex selection purely for social reasons is unacceptable."
(gmcg)
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