Couples undergoing IVF in the UK are exploiting an apparent legal loophole to rank their embryos based on genetic predictions of IQ, height and health, the Guardian has learned. The controversial screening technique, which scores embryos based on their DNA, is not permitted at UK fertility clinics, but under data protection laws, patients can demand their embryos' raw genetic data and send it abroad for analysis.
Dr Cristina Hickman, a senior embryologist and founder of Avenues fertility clinic in London, said rapid advances in embryo screening techniques and the recent launch of several US companies offering so-called polygenic screening had left clinics facing “legal and ethical confusion”. One US company, Herasight, which charges couples $50,000 (£37,000) to assess an unlimited number of embryos, confirmed that it had already worked with couples undergoing IVF at UK clinics.
Avenues currently has two patients who intend to use Herasight’s service. One, a 29-year-old woman, said she and her husband hoped to reduce the risk of diseases such as diabetes and to pick embryos with high predicted IQ. “People are willing to spend loads of money and heartache to give their kids slightly better lives after they’re born,” she said.
In the UK, tests performed on embryos are legally restricted to a list of serious health conditions. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) says polygenic testing is unlawful for use in the UK. However, there is nothing to stop a UK-based couple seeking such testing overseas, but a UK licensed clinic should not then make decisions on what embryo to put back using that information.
Some have questioned whether the HFEA’s position is enforceable. Hickman said the clinic would not generally block a couple’s request that a particular embryo is transferred, provided there was no conflict with medical safety. “I would rather have [polygenic testing] allowed here and have the HFEA control how to do it ethically,” she said.
Critics have raised scientific and ethical objections, saying the method is unproven and could lead to a stratified society where wealthier people pay to select preferred embryos. Prof Angus Clarke, a clinical geneticist at Cardiff University, said: “These companies are dealing in murky science in an emotionally fraught context.”
