They pounced on us within hours of our arrival in Spain. Juliet Tizzard, director of the Progress Educational Trust, said: “There is no evidence that gender selection causes physical or psychological harm to the child born, other family members or even to society. Given the lack of evidence of harm, the decision whether to have gender selection should be taken by the prospective parents.”John Harris, professor of bioethics at the University of Manchester, said: “If it isn’t wrong to wish for a bonny, bouncing baby girl, why would it be wrong to make use of technology to play fairy godmother?”. But clinics offering the technique fall outside the remit of the HFEA.One technique, the Gradient method, in which sperm is sorted in a centrifuge, was offered in the UK, but there was “no scientific evidence” that it worked, Ms Leather said.A newer technique, called flow cytometry, had a 91 per cent success rate for girls and 74 per cent for boys, but not enough was known about its long-term risks.Critics accused the HFEA of being over-cautious.

Under current licensing arrangements, the HFEA allows IVF clinics, which it regulates, to use the technique only where it is necessary to avoid a sex-linked hereditary disease.In recent years, the development of systems for sorting sperm, first used in breeding cattle, has brought the possibility of “family balancing” within reach of a large number of couples. There was a deep-seated belief that children are gifts and not consumer commodities.”Sex selection has been possible for more than a decade with IVF, using pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to choose male or female embryos to be placed in the mother’s womb. They felt it was better to go with the lottery than allow parents to control their children in that sense. “People thought through at quite a deep level the implications of choice and what that would mean in families and for children growing up with those choices having been made. “The public specifically reject the language and values of consumerism in this intimate area of parent-child relations,” she said.

The changes would require an amendment to the law.The consultation exercise found that 82 per cent of people opposed sex selection for social reasons and a similar pro- portion backed it for life-threatening disorders.Suzi Leather, the chairwoman of the HFEA, said there was an overwhelming consensus that a child was a gift, and allowing parents freedom of choice in this area was inappropriate. Selecting the sex of a baby for social reasons should be banned, the Government’s fertility regulator said yesterday. (4) Amelie Mauresmo (Fra) 6–2, 6–0.Doubles, Championship(2) Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spa) and Paola Suarez (Arg) def. (1) Kim Clijsters (Bel) and Ai Sugiyama (Jpn) 6–4, 3–6, 6–3.. The six–day tournament drew 44,889 – 3,629 more than 2002, when both Williams sisters and Lindsay Davenport were in the field.WTA Tour president and CEO Larry Scott said the event will leave Los Angeles in 2005, and relocate to another American city, Europe or China.WTA Tour Championships ResultsSingles, Championship(1) Kim Clijsters (Bel) def. She was 2–3 during the tournament, and only reached the semi-finals because Elena Dementieva defeated Chanda Rubin in round–robin play.The final attracted an announced crowd of 8,925 – 1,307 less than last year’s final, also on a Monday night. Of course, I helped her by making a lot.”Mauresmo is projected to equal her career–best ranking of fourth.

It’s nice to know you can do whatever you want with the ball.”Clijsters broke Mauresmo three times in the first set and served two love games. Her first match point came at 40–love on Mauresmo’s serve, but Clijsters netted a backhand. She won on her second match point when Mauresmo’s backhand went into the net.”I did my best, but it wasn’t good enough,” Mauresmo said “I wasn’t finding my rhythm She played a good game and wasn’t making any mistakes. “I saw the ball like a football, I was seeing it really well. She had 16 winners to Mauresmo’s eight.”You want to focus on yourself and not let her back in the match,” Clijsters said. “She was covering the court very well and she wasn’t giving me any short balls to try to come in.”Clijsters dropped her serve to start the match, then dominated Mauresmo, who had just two more break points against the Belgian the rest of the way.