A father and mother that want the right to choose the sex of their next child have been told the current ban on sex selection will not be lifted.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), which regulates in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment, has informed Alan and Louise Masterton of Monifeith, near Dundee, that the rules banning sex selection, except on medical grounds, will not be changed.
They have four sons and want to have another daughter following the death of their three-year-old daughter, Nicole, in a bonfire accident in July last year. Mrs Masterton was sterilised after Nicole's birth.
Reiterating the HFEA's position on sex selection, its chairwoman, Ms Ruth Deech, said this week the ban on sex selection except when a baby's gender meant it would carry a hereditary disease or condition was a result of public consultation.
"The public do not like, and we do not like the idea of designer babies," she told BBC's Newsnight Scotland programme. "I do not want to give an opinion on one case but obviously we always take into account precedent. If we give one clinic a licence to carry out a brand new treatment it would be difficult for us to refuse a licence to another clinic to carry it out again."
So far no clinic has come forward to seek a licence to carry out sex selection treatment on non-medical grounds and Ms Beech said that if any did so the HFEA would give the clinic a fair hearing. Despite this week's setback the couple plans to fight on and use the European Convention on Human Rights, which was incorporated into British law earlier this month, to gain permission to select the sex of their next baby. The Convention guarantees a fair hearing from public authorities, which the couple argue they have not had, and the right to "family life".
Mr Masterton and his wife have denied they are seeking sex selection treatment simply because they want to replace their dead daughter. He has said the couple believes the dynamic of the family requires an additional female element.
If they win the right to choose the sex of their baby and the HFEA's rules have to be changed, a doctor from the Centre for Advanced Reproduction in Nottingham has said he will provide the necessary treatment.
Dr Simon Fishel said he would be willing to help the couple if there was a rule change at the HFEA. "There is technology to help them," he said. "One could help this family without abusing the technology for wholesale gender selection." The treatment would involve eggs from Mrs Masterton being fertilised but only female embryos being implanted in her womb.
Ms Deech also said that she did not believe the HFEA was obliged to offer the Mastertons a hearing because the organisation did not normally deal with individual cases.