An infertile Frenchwoman is preparing to have her brother's child through artificial insemination at a British fertility clinic in an operation that will spark new debate about the ethics of IVF treatments.
Regulators are satisfied about the legality of the treatment for the 47-year-old woman who, using an egg from an anonymous donor and her brother's sperm, could give birth to a baby whose genetic father would also be his or her uncle.
The final decision on whether to proceed remains with the Bridge Centre in London, but the charity Life yesterday attacked the human fertilisation and embryology authority (HFEA) for failing to constrain a "runaway technology".
The treatment is not allowed on post-menopausal women in France and there was uproar this year when a French brother and sister, aged 52 and 62, travelled to the USA and obtained IVF treatment after posing as husband and wife.
But British law does not exclude such women from the procedure, even if health authorities have age limits on those for whom they are willing to fund treatment.
The Bridge Centre, which confirmed a patient from France was "undergoing evaluation with a view to treatment in the near future", also revealed it hoped that soon it would be allowed to offer genetic screening of embryos for hereditary diseases, a technique that could also allow parents to choose the sex of their babies, although the HFEA has so far opposed its use for "social sexing".
Gedes Grudzinskas, director of the centre, said the woman undergoing assessment at the clinic had been told by the HFEA that such a treatment could be undertaken if satisfactory consideration has been given for the welfare of the un born child. The discussions with the HFEA should be concluded in the next few weeks.
He said the centre was operating within the guidelines and code of practice of the authority. The Sunday Times yesterday quoted him as saying: "I do not consider this case to be different from a woman receiving an egg donated by her sister. It is not incest."
The newspaper said the woman, believed to be a doctor, was referred through a clinic in France more than a year ago and she did not wish to discuss her decision or whether she had a partner who could have fathered the child.
In a statement issued later, the centre regretted any introduction of the term incest to discussion of the case "as emotive and legally and medically incorrect".
A HFEA spokeswoman said: "We do not give approval individual cases as long as the treatment is lawful and legal, which it is in this case. The decision on whether to treat an individual couple is up to the clinicians and the clinic that is going to treat them."
The age of the woman and her ability to look after a child until adulthood would be taken into consideration, and women should be offered appropriate counselling. "In this particular case, the big aspect is 'Will the child know of his or her genetic origin and what psychological effect that will have on the child and family unit'?"
Jack Scarisbrick, chairman of Life, said: "I think it is disgraceful. Yet again the HFEA is showing what a toothless watchdog it is. It is completely unprincipled. Once you start going down this road, there is no reason for stopping".
The UN is to discuss whether there should be world law on artificial procreation next month. The Bridge Centre doubted any forum could "succeed in defining a single universal code of practice as attitudes and beliefs vary dramatically in different societies".
