Twins for UK couple who chose IVF girls

A UK woman who travelled to Spain to conceive a female child has given birth to twin baby girls. Nicola Chenery underwent IVF treatment with genetic testing, to determine the gender of the resulting embryos. The twin girls were born last Saturday, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday. 'We are thrilled, and have no regrets about going abroad for such a wonderful outcome' Mrs Chenery told the newspaper. Nicola and her husband Mike already have four sons, aged three, four, nine and ten.

The use of PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis ) to determine the sex of an IVF embryo is illegal in Britain, unless it is carried out to avoid a serious gender-linked condition. So the Chenerys paid £6000 to have the treatment at a private clinic in Valencia: sex selection is permitted in Spain for family balancing, as well as medical reasons. It was the couple's second attempt, after treatment earlier this year failed.

UK fertility expert Paul Rainsbury, who had been treating Mrs Chenery said: 'I am delighted with the outcome, and mother and babies are doing well'. Over the past five years, he has apparently sent more than 100 couples who want to choose the sex of their babies to clinics in the US and Spain. The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority carried out a public consultation on sex selection for non-medical reasons, which closed in January 2003. It is due to report to ministers on the issue later this month.