'Woman to have brother's test tube baby'

A British clinic is considering helping an infertile woman to have her brother's child through artificial insemination.

The woman is undergoing assessment at the Bridge Centre in London and discussions with the regulatory body the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) should be concluded in the next few weeks, the clinic's director said.

The case had shocked the IVF community and created deep divisions over the morality of treating the woman.

Some specialists had condemned it as a form of social incest, although the woman would use a donor egg it was reported.

The woman, who is 47, said she did not wish to discuss her decision or whether or not she had a partner who could have fathered the child, it added.

Believed to be a doctor, she was referred to London through a clinic in France more than a year ago, it said.

Clinic director Gedis Grudzinskas said: "This patient is currently undergoing assessment at the Bridge Centre, given that the patient has been told by the HFEA that such a treatment can be undertaken if satisfactory consideration has been given for the welfare of the unborn child.

"The discussions with the HFEA should be concluded in the next few weeks. The Bridge Centre has undertaken the assessment of this patient within the guidelines and code of practice of the regulatory body, the HFEA."

He was quoted as saying: "I do not consider this case to be any different from a woman receiving an egg donated by her sister. It is not incest. The brother's sperm will be washed and prepared, and used to fertilise an egg which has come from a completely different anonymous donor."