Brits may lift 'designer baby' ban

LONDON - The biggest shake-up of fertility laws for 15 years is set to usher in an era when couples may be able to choose the sex and possibly the genes of "designer" babies.

The Government has highlighted more than 70 fertility issues to be reappraised in its proposed update of the 1990 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.

For the first time, ministers are contemplating the possibility of removing a blanket ban on scientists altering the genetic structure of human embryos.

The Government's review also raises the possibility of allowing the creation of animal-human "chimeric" embryos for research.

Ministers want public views on whether couples should be able to choose the sex of their children.

Public Health Minister Caroline Flint said that the 1990 law governing in IVF technology was a landmark piece of legislation but over the past 15 years the science had changed along with public attitudes.

"The act has done a good job in taking public confidence with it but we need to take stock.

"We never expected that the act would remain forever unchanged in the face of major developments in science and medicine."

The existing law bans the alteration of the genetic structure of any cell that is part of a human embryo but the Government points out that it may soon be possible to repair genetic defects through modification.

Some fertility centres already screen IVF embryos for serious genetic disorders so that only those embryos shown to be free of the condition are implanted into the womb.

The techniques employed can also be used to scan embryos for other purposes, perhaps even ensuring that a genetic defect is deliberately screened in rather than screened out.

This means, for instance, that a deaf couple could have a deaf child.

The Government is asking whether selecting for certain defects - which is at present banned - should be allowed. Embryos could also be screened for gender, allowing couples to select the sex of their baby to "balance" a family if there is already a bias towards one sex.

Under the existing law, no fertility centre in Britain can offer IVF treatment to a couple unless it takes into account the welfare of the child born as a result of the treatment, including the need for a father.

The Government's public survey - which uses a website questionnaire - asks whether it is still valid for the state to intervene in such a way, especially at a time when one-parent families are commonplace.

Fertility expert Lord Winston said website surveys were flawed and no way to examine public opinions on such an important subject.

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