BRITISH doctors are creating “designer babies” free from certain cosmetic defects for the first time. One clinic has screened embryos to create a baby without a squint. It is understood to be the first time in the world that doctors have selected embryos without the condition.

Another British clinic is treating a couple who want to have a child without a gene that can lead to a severely misshapen face.

Doctors say the cosmetic abnormalities can cause the families severe distress, but critics say the tests are a step closer to selecting only perfect-looking babies.

Until now, screening of embryos has been largely restricted to life-shortening conditions such as cystic fibrosis and fatal blood disorders. Doctors have also recently started screening for adult diseases such as some forms of cancer and early-onset Alzheimer’s.

Now the Bridge Centre fertility clinic in London has been given a licence by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to treat a businessman and his wife who want to ensure they do not have a severely cross-eyed child.

It is seen by Professor Gedis Grudzinskas, medical director of the clinic, as a significant shift towards the use of screening for non-life-threatening conditions. “We will increasingly see the use of embryo screening for severe cosmetic conditions,” he said.

The couple have already started their treatment to screen embryos for the genes responsible for a condition that both the husband and his father suffered. It causes congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles which leads to the eyes looking downwards or sideways.

Grudzinskas said the condition could be emotionally distressing for those who suffered from it. “Here is a young couple who wish to start their family and know the possibility of such suffering in their children. They wish to avoid this suffering and I think that is very reasonable.”

He said those suffering from the condition typically required a number of operations to correct it, although there was no guarantee that surgery would be successful.

Dr David King, director of Human Genetics Alert, said: “Philosophers love to deride the idea of a slippery slope, but here it is in practice. We moved from preventing children who will die young to those who might become ill in middle age. Now we discard those who will live as long as the rest of us but are cosmetically imperfect.”

The process, known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), involves testing embryos for faulty genes, then reimplanting those free of the defective genes in the woman. Those carrying the faulty genes are destroyed.

Doctors at Care Fertility, a chain of fertility clinics based in Nottingham, are treating a couple who want to have a child free from a syndrome which causes bones and tissue on the face to grow abnormally. This syndrome causes the shape of the face to change and can lead to hearing loss.

Care Fertility is developing the PGD test and plans to apply to the HFEA for a licence to carry out the procedure in the next few months.

Dr Simon Fishel, managing director of Care Fertility, said: “If a family believe a condition is disfiguring enough to want to carry out embryo screening, then they should have access to this procedure.”

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