Sex Selection
July 2001
The British Fertility Society opposes social engineering and the
use of sex selection for these purposes.
We do, of course, welcome any scientific advance which will provide
more effective and cost effective use of treatments used to avoid
the inheritance of certain disorders such as haemophilia and duchenne
muscular dystrophy transmission of which is linked to the X chromosome.
As yet it is premature to say whether this new technique reported
in North America (which uses flow cytometry to select out the Y
chromosome sperms) will provide such an advance as there remain
both safety and efficacy issues to resolve.
The use of such techniques in selecting sperm for use in artificial
insemination does falls outwith the remit of the legislation which
governs infertility practice in the UK. However, British Fertility
Society and RCOG guidelines together with the HFEA Code of Practice
provides a clear guidance for clinicians working in the UK not to
adopt these techniques for social sex selection.
Both the British Fertility Society and the Human Fertilisation
and Embryology Authority which licences those centre in the UK providing
IVF and similar treatment advises against the use of such practices
for medical reasons until more data is available.
For more information: please contact the British Fertility Society press office |