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HK clinic says it offers designer babies without surgery, genetics
October 18, 2004
From a plush new clinic tucked away on the seventh floor of a drab Hong Kong
office building, businessman Min Yoo says he can give would-be-parents the
child of their dreams.
Without the need for surgery or genetic manipulation he claims to be able to
give couples all they need to select the gender of their child -- a simple
calendar.
His technique has, however, been greeted with scepticism by some in the medical
fraternity who say there is no evidence to show it works.
"There are good times for women to conceive if they want a boy and good times
for girls. We simply work out those times," said Min, of CHOIX clinic in
downtown Hong Kong.
CHOIX says it uses a simple gender selection technique that identifies the best
times for a would-be mother to conceive a boy and when she is likely to
conceive a girl.
Min said it relies on being able to identify when a woman will have the eggs --
or ova -- that will produce a child of the required sex.
"Human biology works in cycles," said Min, who has no medical training and
whose only experience of such matters comes from his mother who is a fertility
specialist in Los Angeles.
"Using data we collect from the client, we work out a fertility calendar for
our clients that maps out when it would be best for them to conceive a boy or a
girl."
The cycle depends on physiological data particular to each client that
clinicians gather from a medical history questionnaire, a consultation and a
single blood sample.
"It takes about an hour or so to do, but from that we can establish the best
time of conception for any couple," adds Min, a Korean-born American who helped
found the company a year ago with three other partners.
They bought the only Asian licence for the technique, which was devised by a
private laboratory in Switzerland. The lab is in the process of patenting the
procedure and may not be named.
A treatment package, including midwife visits and other medical back-up, costs
50,000 Hong Kong dollars (6,410 US).
Although since opening late last month CHOIX has only signed one client, Min
expects would-be parents to be willing to pay that much to get the baby they
want.
"There are many constraints on family size in Hong Kong -- not least, the
generally small size of people's homes here," he said.
"Most people these days want at least two children, one of each. If they
already have one, they will want to ensure the next one is of a different sex.
"This procedure takes away the risk of having to have a third, fourth or fifth
baby if they all turn out to be the same sex as the first."
While CHOIX has the backing of a leading local midwife and private hospital
group, some in the medical fraternity have questioned the legitimacy of the
technique.
"We've had similar gender selection clinics come and go; there's no scientific
or medical evidence to show any of them work," Dr. Ernest Ng, assistant
professor at the obstetrics and gynaecology department of Queen Mary Hospital,
attached to the Hong Kong University, told AFP.
"You cannot select the gender of a child from the cycles of the would-be mother
alone -- sperm has as much a part to play, adding to the unpredictability of
it."
Min is resolute his business is valid.
"The point is," argues Min, "this is not a medical procedure. It is pointless
asking a medical practitioner because there is no medicine involved.
"It is all about natural timing and identifying the best time to conceive. It's
akin to the rhythm method that has been used for years to avoid conception."
The procedure has been put forward as a possible solution to growing population
problems in China, where the cultural premium placed on sons has produced
orphanages filled with baby girls and where the punitive one-child policy has
produced high numbers of backroom abortions.
Although Ng questions the ethics of such a suggestion, saying such gender
selection is banned in some countries on the grounds it could destabilise the
male-female balance, Min questions it on commercial grounds.
"This is not an answer to China's population problem but an aid for family
planning," he said. "And anyway, I'm not so sure those traditional views really
hold in modern China -- except in the backward rural areas."
Min is confident the technique will sell among Asia's middle classes because
there are no medical risks nor religious objections to a procedure that
requires no manipulation of human embryos.
In fact he is so confident the company offers a full money-back guarantee if a
client conceives a child of the wrong sex.
"We can't guarantee you will get pregnant, but we are pretty certain that when
you do, we'll know what the sex (of the baby) will be."
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