The Catholic Doctors' Association of Malaysia (CDAM) was among several groups that have spoken out against the 'frivolous' use of Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) and urge the authorities to formulate guidelines to prevent its abuse.

Resorting to PGD to select the gender, for instance, of a baby for reasons not related to the health of the child or mother is morally, ethically, and religiously wrong, they said.

CDAM bio-ethics spokesperson Dr KY Chong said while the technology was originally conceived and developed to detect embryos at risk of developing debilitating or fatal genetic defects, the technology is now being commercialised for frivolous purposes.

"The Catholic Church feels that life starts at conception and that it should start from the loving union of husband and wife in the family context. We shouldn't be playing with egg and sperm," he said in a telephone interview.

"The PGD method was actually meant in good faith. But now it's being used for sex-selection, which is completely different from what it was originally intended for," Chong added.

Chong was commenting on a New Straits Times report 'Choosing baby's sex now in your hands' earlier this week on a couple with three girls who wanted 'to ensure their fourth child was a boy.'

Yau Tak, Malaysia's first designer baby, was born in December 2004 to the couple from Ipoh.

Chong said the country should not yet celebrate the occasion until it is known for sure that such test-tube babies have grown normally without suffering from any 'side-effects' of the procedure.

"The earliest test-tube baby, Nash Brown, was born in 2000. How do we know that 30 years down the line these test-tube babies have not developed side-effects or deformities?" he asked.

According to Chong, there have been studies that suggest "a higher incidence of defects and abnormalities in test-tube babies as compared to normal babies."

"These things are not highlighted in the media. They don't tell parents that there is a higher chance that their (designer) child can develop with defects. By the time the parents discover it, the mother may be five or four months pregnant," he added.

"What we need to do is more studies on animals and have more regulatory control so that people cannot just determine the sex of their babies."

Echoing Chong's objections to PGD, past president of the Obstetrical and Gynaecological Society Malaysia Dr Sheikh Johari Bux said there were ethical and moral questions that were inadequately addressed by PGD advocates.

Murder?

For every PGD-produced embryo 'chosen' for its features by a couple, noted Johari, there are at least three or four other embryos that remain either indefinitely 'cryo-preserved' or are simply destroyed.

"There are many frozen embryos that can be kept indefinitely, even after the parents have passed away. What happens to them? Throwing these away could be considered murder," said Johari, who is also a founding director of the Muslim Professionals Forum (MPF).

He also pointed out that the sex-selection of embryos was essentially a form of discrimination, against which the Qur'an militates when it condemned the practice of female infanticide.

Dr Musa Mohd Nordin, current President of Federation of Islamic Medical Associations, said Islam categorically prohibited the gender selection of embryos except in cases where a particular gender would lead to a serious or fatal genetic disease.

"Genetic engineering on a pre-embryo that involves a modification of its natural features, such as hair type, hair colour, intelligence, height or gender is haram ," said Musa citing a February 2005 decision of the National Fatwa Council.

Musa said further that "research has to be conducted on the pre-embryo to determine the genetic disease for a couple at high-risk."

Guidelines for Muslims

Among the guidelines that Muslim scholars have formulated PGDs, said Musa, include:

Research conducted on pre-embryos is limited only to therapeutic research. Genetic analysis of pre-embryos to detect specific genetic disorders is permissible. Hence diagnostic aids should be provided for couples at high risk for selected inherited diseases.

Cryopreserved pre-embryos may be used for research purposes with the free and informed consent of the couple;

Research conducted on pre-embryos is limited only to therapeutic research. Genetic analysis of pre-embryos to detect specific genetic disorders is permissible. Hence diagnostic aids should be provided for couples at high risk for selected inherited diseases.

The treated embryo may only be implanted into the uterus of the wife who is the owner of the ova and only during the span of the marriage contract.

Any pre-embryos found to be genetically defective maybe rejected from transfer into the uterus after proper counselling by the physician.

Research aimed at changing the inherited characteristics of pre-embryos ( e.g. hair and eye colour, intelligence, height ) including sex selection is forbidden. Sex selection is, however, permitted if a particular sex predisposes to a serious genetic condition.

The free informed consent of the couple should be obtained prior to conducting any non-therapeutic research on the pre-embryos.

Research of a commercial nature or not related to the health of the mother or child is not allowed.

The research should be undertaken in accredited and reputable research facilities. The medical justification for the research proposal must be sound and scientific and conducted by a skilled and responsible researcher.

In a new development, Health Minister Dr Chua Soi Lek said today that the government would not allow for the creation of 'designer babies' except for medical reasons.

Towards this end, he said, the ministry was drafting a new act which include guidelines on the matter and was expected to be announced by the year-end.

"According to the guidelines being drafted, sex selection for social reasons is not permitted. Sex selection is, however, allowed if a particular sex predisposes a serious genetic condition like haemophilia and Down's Syndrome," he said according to a Bernama report.