Medical sex selection

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Choosing the sex of your baby by embryo selection without a medical reason, even during IVF (in-vitro fertilisation) treatment, is banned in the UK.

'After two public consultations, opinion was categorically against sex selection for non-medical purposes - what Americans call family balancing', says a spokesperson for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). 'Around 80% of those asked in the UK objected to sex selection on both moral and ethical grounds.'

Only in extenuating circumstances, such as a family history of a serious disease that could affect a child of a certain sex, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in boys, for example, can medical sex selection be carried out in the UK and Europe. In such cases, a method called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), which puts back only embryos of the required sex, is performed during the IVF process.

It's possible for British couples to receive PGD for non-medical reasons in the US, but it's expensive. Clinics, including one in London, liaise with medical facilities in America to offer this treatment. Early consultations are carried out in this country, but owing to the UK ban, medical procedures are done in the US. It costs around £12,000, excluding flights and accommodation.

Although nearly all pregnancies result in a child of the desired sex, as the treatment involves IVF, it's invasive and requires intensive hormone treatment.