Researchers have developed a new technique that will allow parents to pick the sex of their child during IVF treatment, prompting calls for regulation of the practice.
The process, developed in the US, enables scientists to choose sperm that boosts the odds of conceiving specifically a boy or girl to about 80 per cent.
Concerns have been raised in the UK about the wider implications of providing a “legal loophole” that will allow couples to choose the sex of their children.
Writing in the journal PLOS One, the researchers from Cornell University in New York state say there is a role for the technology for parents who want to avoid passing genetic disorders linked to gender, such as haemophilia in males and Rett Syndrome in females.
“If the disease itself is X-linked, there is a need to determine the embryo sex to avoid transmission of an affected male embryo,” they wrote.
But they admit the process may raise “ethical concerns”.
The scientists selected sperm based on whether they contained an X chromosome, which would make female offspring, or a Y, which creates male offspring, using measures to determine density.
Sperm containing X chromosomes is slightly heavier, because it contains more genetic material, making each type easy to identify and separate.
Using the technique, 59 couples who wanted girls had produced 79 per cent female embryos, resulting in the birth of 16 females. Another 46 couples who wanted boys produced 75 per cent male embryos, leading to the birth of 13 baby boys.
The researchers wrote: “Although ethically debatable, expressing a sex preference for offspring is popular among couples, and not limited to those undergoing infertility treatment,” although the stressed that the "sex-selection method does not necessarily guarantee offspring of a specific sex".
The technique enabling the selection of embryos for the desired sex is “extremely safe as well as efficient, inexpensive and ethically palatable”, they added.
It is possible to use technology to choose the gender of a child in the US but the practice is banned in the UK unless there is a medical reason for it, such as a risk of passing on a sex-based condition.
Fertility problems - in pictures
Dr Channa Jayasena, head of andrology at Imperial College London, said: “Their technical achievement is insignificant compared to the serious ethical concerns raised by the research.
“They propose sperm selection as an ‘ethical’ alternative to embryo selection. I find this incredible, since sperm selection is just another way of selecting embryos to manipulate the sex of offspring, with detrimental societal implications.
“I am alarmed that such technology might become more widespread in clinical practice. This research therefore raises serious ethical concerns which need to be addressed urgently through regulation.”
Polling shows the British public is opposed to sex selection, with 57 per cent of people against the practice and 28 per cent in favour.
Some NHS trusts refuse to tell couples the sex of their baby.
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
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The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
