Fertility clinic's new 'designer' baby service sparks outrage
By Philip Sherwell in New York
Monday March 02 2009
A Los Angeles fertility clinic is offering to design a baby to parents' exact requirements.
The Fertility Institutes clinic's service gives the chance to select physical traits through "cosmetic medicine". Prospective parents can request a son with brown eyes, black hair and a dark complexion, or a pale, blonde, green-eyed daughter.
Other fertility specialists are outraged that the clinic is seeking to capitalise on advances in embryo cell analysis aimed at identifying dangerous diseases and defects in the unborn.
They claimed that the 'bespoke baby' IVF service is distracting public attention from how the medical technology can produce children free of debilitating genetic conditions.
But the clinic's director, Dr Jeff Steinberg, who was in the team involved in the birth in Britain in 1978 of Louise Brown, the world's first test tube baby, is undeterred. "I live in LA and everyone here wants to have a straight nose and high cheekbones and are perfectly happy to pay for cosmetic surgery," he said.
"I understand the concerns, but we cannot escape the fact that science is moving forward. If I have to get smacked around by people who think it is inappropriate, then I'm willing to live with that."
Dr Steinberg's clinic, already the world's largest provider of gender choice, has had "five or six" requests from couples for the new service. He expects the first 'trait selection' baby to be born next year. The cost for the process will be about $18,000 (€14,000). It is based on pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) that has for several years allowed doctors to identify potentially lethal diseases or conditions in embryos.
Yet scientists have recently made dramatic advances in their ability to analyse a cell. At a meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics last year, William Kearns, a medical geneticist, said that he had been able to get enough DNA from a cell to identify thousands of characteristics of the embryo. Dr Kearns explained the technique for medical use, but Dr Steinberg quickly spotted other potential.
He said parents might seek the clinic's services for medical or cosmetic reasons. Some couples might already have a child with a skin cancer and want their next baby to have a darker complexion.
His proposal to offer trait selection has outraged Dr Kearns. "I won't sell my soul for any amount," he said. "Steinberg has jumped on my research but I'm totally against this. My goal is to screen embryos to help couples have healthy babies free of genetic diseases. Traits are not diseases."
Marcy Darnovsky, the director of the California-based Centre for Genetics and Society, said: "The concern is that we'll be creating a society with new sorts of discrimination. Now it's eyes and hair colour. What happens if it's height and intelligence? "
Dr Steinberg said IVF was once viewed with fear, but now "is not even a cocktail party curiosity". (©Daily Telegraph, London)
- Philip Sherwell in New York
By Philip Sherwell in New York
Monday March 02 2009
A Los Angeles fertility clinic is offering to design a baby to parents' exact requirements.
The Fertility Institutes clinic's service gives the chance to select physical traits through "cosmetic medicine". Prospective parents can request a son with brown eyes, black hair and a dark complexion, or a pale, blonde, green-eyed daughter.
Other fertility specialists are outraged that the clinic is seeking to capitalise on advances in embryo cell analysis aimed at identifying dangerous diseases and defects in the unborn.
They claimed that the 'bespoke baby' IVF service is distracting public attention from how the medical technology can produce children free of debilitating genetic conditions.
But the clinic's director, Dr Jeff Steinberg, who was in the team involved in the birth in Britain in 1978 of Louise Brown, the world's first test tube baby, is undeterred. "I live in LA and everyone here wants to have a straight nose and high cheekbones and are perfectly happy to pay for cosmetic surgery," he said.
"I understand the concerns, but we cannot escape the fact that science is moving forward. If I have to get smacked around by people who think it is inappropriate, then I'm willing to live with that."
Dr Steinberg's clinic, already the world's largest provider of gender choice, has had "five or six" requests from couples for the new service. He expects the first 'trait selection' baby to be born next year. The cost for the process will be about $18,000 (€14,000). It is based on pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) that has for several years allowed doctors to identify potentially lethal diseases or conditions in embryos.
Yet scientists have recently made dramatic advances in their ability to analyse a cell. At a meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics last year, William Kearns, a medical geneticist, said that he had been able to get enough DNA from a cell to identify thousands of characteristics of the embryo. Dr Kearns explained the technique for medical use, but Dr Steinberg quickly spotted other potential.
He said parents might seek the clinic's services for medical or cosmetic reasons. Some couples might already have a child with a skin cancer and want their next baby to have a darker complexion.
His proposal to offer trait selection has outraged Dr Kearns. "I won't sell my soul for any amount," he said. "Steinberg has jumped on my research but I'm totally against this. My goal is to screen embryos to help couples have healthy babies free of genetic diseases. Traits are not diseases."
Marcy Darnovsky, the director of the California-based Centre for Genetics and Society, said: "The concern is that we'll be creating a society with new sorts of discrimination. Now it's eyes and hair colour. What happens if it's height and intelligence? "
Dr Steinberg said IVF was once viewed with fear, but now "is not even a cocktail party curiosity". (©Daily Telegraph, London)
- Philip Sherwell in New York