MPs demand inquiry into sex selection doctors
NHS medics allegedly charging couples to let them choose gender of their baby
MPs have called for a General Medical Council (GMC) inquiry into reports that some medical practitioners in the UK are secretly charging couples money to select the sex of their child.
Gender selection for non-medical reasons is illegal in the UK, but the Daily Mail reports that at least four British doctors have been offering the service to couples under their care. The doctors allegedly set up “appointments at private clinics” in the UK for the couples, before sending them abroad to undergo the procedure at medical centres in countries including Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates.
The UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has said that it is “extremely concerned about any HFEA-licensed centre, or any individual connected to it, promoting and facilitating such treatment”. The watchdog added that it will be contacting the centres and individuals about the allegations.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Three members of the Commons Health Committee, including SNP MP Dr Lisa Cameron, have called for the GMC to launch its own investigation into the “morally dubious procedure”.
Cameron described the Mail’s findings as “alarming”, adding: “I hope the fertility regulator will launch a full investigation into this and appropriate action is taken against the medical professionals involved. We need to send a clear message that this is not acceptable.”
Fertility clinics in Britain must have a licence from the HFEA to operate, while doctors practising medicine in the country must be registered with the GMC to obtain a licence to practice.
However, such restrictions do not apply in some other parts of the world. “The legal ambiguity of northern Cyprus has made it an attractive option for the booming highly controversial industry of designer babies,” reports the Cyprus Mail.
Jay Karatuna, who advises English patients at an IVF centre in the Cypriot city of Famagusta, told an undercover Daily Mail reporter: “In North Cyprus you have no issues at all on the legal side of things. Everything is legal here. We’ve been doing it for years and years and years. It’s no problem to us.”
Responding to the newspaper’s report, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “Sex selection is strictly prohibited in the UK and the Government takes these allegations extremely seriously.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why Trump's cabinet nominees are facing confirmation delays
In the Spotlight Paperwork and politics play a role
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Hegseth boosts hopes for confirmation amid grilling
Speed Read The Senate held confirmation hearings for Pete Hegseth, Trump's Defense Secretary nominee
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden removes Cuba from terrorism blacklist
Speed read The move is likely to be reversed by the incoming Trump administration, as it was Trump who first put Cuba on the terrorism blacklist in his first term
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
New Year's Honours: why the controversy?
Today's Big Question London Mayor Sadiq Khan and England men's football manager Gareth Southgate have both received a knighthood despite debatable records
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
2024: the year of the gender divide
In the Spotlight A growing ideological rift between young men and women was felt on a global scale this year
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Failed trans mission
Opinion How activists broke up the coalition gay marriage built
By Mark Gimein Published
-
'A man's sense of himself is often tied to having a traditionally masculine, physical job'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off': tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Last hopes for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans
Under the Radar Thousands of ex-service personnel say their lives have been blighted by aggressive cancers and genetic mutations
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will Donald Trump wreck the Brexit deal?
Today's Big Question President-elect's victory could help UK's reset with the EU, but a free-trade agreement with the US to dodge his threatened tariffs could hinder it
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'The problem with deliverism is that it presumes voters will notice'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published