OPPOSITION is mounting to Hong Kong's controversial sex selection clinic, which has just announced its first pregnancy, following heavy criticism from British politicians.
The latest attacks have sparked fresh calls from Hong Kong legislators to introduce a law to monitor the territory's first Gender Choice Centre. The clinic is celebrating its first pregnancy, expected in November, but a strict confidential policy protects the identity of clients.
The Executive Council has yet to meet to devise new legislation to control scientifically-assisted human reproduction, which could be in place by the end of the year at the earliest. A delegation of officials from the Health Department has been visiting England, Australia, New Zealand and the United States to see how the process is controlled by the authorities in those countries.
Last week, British parliamentarians in the House of Commons called for a ban on medical treatments which let parents choose the sex of their child. In the past month, four women had given birth to children of the sex they wanted after treatment at the Gender Choice Centre's London clinic, which used a technique of artificial insemination to separate male and female sperm.
However, medical experts are still unsure how reliable the technique is. Selecting the sex of children has been banned at test-tube baby clinics in Britain since last year but the London Gender Clinic's treatment is legal as the egg is fertilised in the womb, and not in a test tube.
The Labour Party's health spokesman, David Blunkett, called for a total ban on sex selection for social reasons, saying it could distort population patterns. The MP's calls were echoed by members of the ruling Conservative Party.
