WANT to choose the sex of a child you’re having by IVF? Don’t look to UK clinics to help. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) imposes strict rules on what is and isn’t permitted, which is why increasing numbers of couples are choosing to go fertility-shopping abroad. With concerns about everything from cost to egg- and sperm-donor anonymity, more and more British couples are choosing cheaper, more flexible clinics in Eastern Europe and beyond. The HFEA has serious reservations about the ethics and health risks, but some specialists are forecasting a boom in “fertility tourism” over the rest of the decade.

Autistic licence

DO YOU still see autism as a disability? A burgeoning rights movement aims to convince you otherwise and to remove the stigma surrounding autism and Asperger’s syndrome. Just as society learned to accept homosexuality, organisations such as the Autism Assembly and Aspies for Freedom say it should accept “neurodiversity” as something to celebrate rather than cure. In June, the organisations launched the first annual Autistic Pride Day, with events around the world, to persuade the rest of us — the “neuro-typicals” — that autistic people are “unique individuals” who should not be seen as cases for treatment. Expect the pressure to grow in 2006.

Horse sense

TELL your Freudian analyst to trot on. Equine assisted psychotherapy is taking the place of traditional talking therapies for people who prefer the physical to the theoretical. Working with (but not riding) horses is helping people to develop confidence and communication skills. It’s proving very successful for those with depression, eating disorders and addiction.

Find your old genes

TRACING the family tree from old documents is so last year. You can now trace your ancestral genes. A simple DNA test will map your origins scientifically, revealing where your forefathers originated thousands of years ago. Companies such as DNAPrint and Family Tree DNA offer genomic tests to trace ethnic origins, ancestors’ migration patterns, even the likely parentage of a child conceived by sperm donor.

Cancer vaccine

THE FIRST cancer jab should become licensed for use in the UK in 2006. The vaccine has been developed to prevent some of the 70 per cent of cervical cancers caused by the human papilloma virus. But should children as young as ten get it to protect them from the sexually transmitted virus? Yes, say sexual health and cancer experts. No, it will encourage underage-sex, say the morally outraged. Expect the controversy to rage.

Tooth detox

FORGET smoothies and organic tofu . . . the latest detox weapon is a dentist’s drill. Tooth detoxing is for the many who have loose teeth as the result of periodontal gum disease. Tri-Immuno Phasic periodontal therapy (TIP, as it is also known) has just reached these shores from America, courtesy of an alternative health centre, the London-based Hale Clinic. It involves peeling back the gums under local anaesthetic, removing the bacteria that have collected under them, then replacing and resealing. Like vacuuming under the rugs, really. It apparently allows the bone around the teeth to grow back and the gums to heal.

Bring on the bio-bling

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