The option for parents to select the sex of their next baby to balance their family is raised in a public consultation document published today.

The government said that its review of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act of 1990 will seek views from the public on sex selection for non-medical purposes.

The review will ask whether the practice should be banned - as it is currently - or be allowed for family balancing reasons.

Sex selection is allowed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in order to avoid babies being born with disorders such as haemophilia.

But its use for family balancing was opposed by the fertility watchdog after a public consultation.

Now the government has raised the issue again in its wide-ranging consultation on fertility legislation, which has not been updated for 15 years.

The review will also consider, if sex selection was made more widely available, how many children of one gender should a couple already have before they are allowed to use screening techniques to try for a child of another gender.

Sex selection is just one of many issues raised for debate in the consultation, which also considers welfare of the child, screening techniques and internet sperm banks.

The public health minister, Caroline Flint, said the HFEA act was a "landmark piece of legislation" which had stood the test of time well.

But she said the government had never expected the act to remain unchanged forever in the face of scientific and medical developments.

"The consultation raised many complex issues on which there are many different and strongly-held views," Ms Flint said.

"There are important matters of reproductive freedom and responsibility, professional autonomy, and how best to safeguard the welfare of the children."