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‘Designer baby’ clinic attracts European client

DUBAI — The first ‘designer’ baby to be born to a UAE couple in the country is due on January 18 in Dubai.

The Caesarian section at Al Wasl Hospital is handling the delivery of the boy. The couple has had long-standing fertility problems.

However, the first baby whose gender was chosen in Dubai, was born to a European woman in Belgium in the last week of December last year.

The woman had undergone fertility treatment after choosing the sex of the baby at the Dubai Gynaecology and Fertility Centre.

A patient of Dr Hina Zaheer, the woman delivered a healthy baby boy.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Dr Hina, without revealing the identity of the patient, said that the couple had no fertility problems.

“The woman already has two daughters delivered through complicated Caesarean procedures. She wanted a son and this was the last pregnancy she could have as advised by her doctors, so she wanted to balance her family by having a son,” explained Dr Hina.

Dr Hina said that the gender selection process is done at the centre only on two conditions: family balancing and genetic complications.

“Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) or embryo screening is a process in which procedures are performed on embryos prior to implantation to find faulty genes or test the male or female chromosome for the gender selection process,” said Dr Hina.

Dr Hina said the European woman had got in touch with the centre through the Internet.