Preimplantation genetic diagnosis

• Unite sperm and egg in the laboratory

• Fertilised egg grows to 8 cell size

• Remove 1 cell and test for disease

• Test also for compatibility (HLA)

PGD

Screening out Disease

• Cystic fibrosis

• Down’s Syndrome

• Beta Thalassaemia (Greek for sea/blood)

• Sickle Cell disease

• Breast and Bowel cancer

• Huntington’s disease

• and more to come

Screening

• For beta thalassaemia in Cyprus, Iran

• For Down’s Syndrome

• Preimplantation or abortion

• Breast and bowel cancer genes identified in the embryo

Bill and PGD

• Sch 2 para 3: permits saviour sibling testing where there is a “significant risk” of “serious” disability, illness or condition

• Must be treatable by cord blood or bone marrow, not whole organ

• Human Tissue Authority may permit transplant

• What happened to wardship jurisdiction?

Disability and screening

• Society should adapt to the disabled

• They will be seen as unworthy

• There will be fewer• Should be able to

choose a deaf embryo

• Help and cure does not mean unworthiness

• Antidiscrimination laws and compassion have increased

• Every baby should be given the best chance and not predetermined

Deaf by choice

• Candace McCullough and Sharon Duchesneau, deaf same sex couple, found sperm donor with 5 generations of deafness for Sharon, who has 4 generations of deafness. Two deaf children born

Designer deafness

• Cl 14 prevents selection of embryos for deafness; disabled embryo not to be preferred

• Does this impede reproductive liberty and undermine reproductive confidence in the deaf community?

• Deliberate creation of deaf babies is wrong

Boy or Girl?

• China – 117 boys to 100 girls

• Right to only one child• Girls less likely to be

registered

Medical Reasons for Sex Selection

• Haemophilia and Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy affect only males

• Autism?

• If there is a family history of this, choose a girl

• Achieved by preimplantation genetic diagnosis

Non-medical Reasons for Sex Selection

• Family balancing

• Rebuild a family after the death of a child

• Religious, cultural and economic reasons for wanting boys

• Remove one cell from a 3-day old embryo

• Analyse the chromosomes and DNA

• XX = girl, XY = boy

Choosing the Sex of Your Children

• The Mastertons had four boys and lost their only girl

• Should they be allowed to use embryo selection to have another girl?

Bill and sex selection

• Cl 14 (10), (11): sex selection not permitted except for medical reasons

• Sch 2 para 3: embryo testing permitted for gender related disability

• Confirms HFEA existing practice