[Paleopsych] Yahoo!: U.K. lesbians try for new fertility procedure

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U.K. lesbians try for new fertility procedure
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=101&e=3&u=/po/20050420/co_po/uklesbianstryfornewfertilityprocedure


Tue Apr 19, 8:35 PM ET

Ben Townley, Gay.com U.K.

SUMMARY: A lesbian couple is looking to have a "shared" baby by
combining existing treatments to ensure the resulting baby "has truly
come from both of us."

A lesbian couple is looking to make a fertility first in the United
Kingdom by planning to have a "shared" baby.

Vicky Hill, 22, and Hayley Marlow, 29, want to combine existing
treatments to ensure the resulting baby "has truly come from both of
us."

Hill will donate an egg to her partner, while Marlow will have the
fertilized egg implanted in her womb. The sperm will be used from a
donor.

As a result, Hill will be the genetic mother, while Marlow will be the
birth mother.

Traditionally, lesbian couples have used artificial insemination to have
a baby.

However, the couple says this method only results in one partner having
a direct link to the child.

The process of donation, fertilization and implantation is likely to
cost the couple thousands of pounds, and only has a slim chance of
success. They have already spoken with their physician, press reports
suggest, and are likely to be referred to a specialist in the coming
months.

Although never tried, the method is not against the Human Fertilization
and Embryology Authority (HFEA) guidelines.

A spokesperson for the agency said Tuesday they would not try to block
the attempt, although they would warn that the process would be
difficult.

Far right campaigners, however, say they will protest the case.

"Children should not be used as guinea pigs to serve the interests of
adults," Martin Foley of the Life charity told The Sun. "Nobody has the
right to a child. They are gifts -- and their welfare and rights must
come before the parents."

But the parents say their baby would help "complete" the family.

"A lot of lesbians do have children using male friends as sperm donors,
but we want a baby that has truly come from both of us and the only way
to do that is by me carrying Vicky's baby," Marlow told the Oxford Mail.