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October 29, 2008
Gender Selection
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7696698.stm
Parents queue to select baby gender
A growing number of British couples are undergoing procedures at clinics overseas to determine the gender of their babies. However, as the BBC's Colette McBeth reports, this service is often offered illegally.
Like many a story, it started out with a simple conversation with a friend.
Is that really possible? I remember asking, before going straight home to my laptop and typing the words "gender selection" in the search engine.
My friend had told me she knew of someone who was going abroad to have a daughter through IVF.
The woman in question had two boys, both conceived naturally, but had a burning desire for a girl and didn't want to leave anything to chance.
Once on the internet, I was amazed to learn how many women not only wanted the same but felt so strongly about it.
I found whole websites devoted to discussion about where gender selection was legal (not the UK or most of Europe) and the cost of treatment (anything from £7,000 to £17,000).
Women who had four boys but couldn't rest until they had a daughter, or three girls and desperately wanted a son.
And this wasn't a cultural thing. If anything, girls won over boys.
It is possible to almost guarantee the sex of a baby using IVF and a type of embryos screening called Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD).
In most countries, though, PGD is used only for medical reasons. So if there is a genetic disease which runs in boys, couples would be allowed to have PGD to implant only female embryos.
Website advert
Some countries, such as the US and Russia, do allow sex selection - but I quickly realised there was a problem with all of this.
Many patients who were planning to go abroad were completely confused as to where it was legal and where it wasn't.
And some clinics seemed to be profiting out of the confusion.
One such clinic is the Jinemed Center in Istanbul. It has a slick website and boasts the claim "life begins with us".
It was also advertising on a gender selection website. You could even plan a fortnight's break in the sun, tell your friends you're taking the family on holiday and go for IVF/PGD.
The only problem with all of that is that gender selection is illegal in Turkey.
No matter, I found many posts in which women said they'd had treatment there or had been told it was possible.
And it happened two Jinemed representatives were coming to London for the weekend to see prospective patients.
Secret filming
So one Sunday a few weeks ago I went along to a dental practice in Shepherds Bush in London where the Jinemed had hired a room.
I took a small handbag which in itself was fairly normal except this one contained a hidden camera. We (my husband accompanied me) waited an hour to be seen.
The doctor and nurse had been rushed off their feet, it seemed.
Two days of back-to-back appointments - and 50% of those couples wanted sex selection.
I began to explain our story. "I'm 33 and we have two boys conceived naturally and..."
Before I could finish the nurse interjected with a smile. "And you want a daughter."
Over the course of half an hour they explained the costs involved and said we could have the whole procedure done in Turkey.
They also said they normally put in three embryos. That rang alarm bells.
The maximum in the UK is two and most doctors would like to see that reduced to one because multiple pregnancy is the single greatest risk with IVF.
Baby impact
In an earlier conversation it was suggested any extra foetuses could be "taken out" or aborted if I did get pregnant with twins or triplets.
I showed Professor Peter Braude of King's College London our footage.
Having been involved in IVF for many years he advocates implanting only one embryo in women going for fertility treatment.
He said: "Putting three embryos back in a young woman is really bad practice because of the high risk of multiple pregnancy.
"So even if you went abroad for treatment and had your IVF treatment you're bringing those twins back for care in this country - and besides the impact on the NHS there's significant impact on those babies."
Despite being told we had filmed its representatives offering to carry out the procedure, the Jinemed Center says it does not do it, and always warns patients about the risks of multiple pregnancies.
But, after contacting the Turkish government with our findings, it has now launched an official investigation into the Jinemed Center and warned UK patients not to travel there for gender selection.
Proof if needed that the desire to complete a family with a son or a daughter by going down the "high tech" route could turn into a legal nightmare.
Posted by chek at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2008
X-ray eye in airports
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7687126.stm
Europe delays airport X-ray eye
x-ray body scanner
EU lawmakers have delayed the introduction at airports of full body scanners, machines that generate images of passengers - minus their clothes.
MEPs voted for a further study on the implications for privacy and health.
Computer pictures generated by the scanners give an outline of passengers' bodies beneath their clothes.
Supporters say they detect hidden objects not picked up by traditional metal detectors. But critics say they amount to a virtual strip search.
The new scanners have already been introduced in several US airports and have been tested around the world.
Efficient measure
The European Commission - which supports their implementation - has given assurances that the scanners will not be used routinely on all passengers.
And it would be a faster and less intrusive alternative to frisking or strip-searching people.
Where scanners are in use, security staff can pick out individuals to stand in a booth while three pictures are taken of the person in slightly different positions.
Within seconds, a scanner produces an image of the body.
What shows up is the naked human form and anything that may be concealed, such as a gun or drugs.
"The Commission believes that body scanning methods can complement in a very effective and efficient way the existing security measures at airports," said spokesman Jens Mester at EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
But others are unconvinced.
"It is unacceptable, if scanners are used, these are machines that see you completely naked," said Martin Schulz, leader of the socialist grouping in the EU assembly.
"This is an offence against human dignity," he added.
Posted by chek at 11:27 AM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2008
Metronome Web
http://webmetronome.com/
Web Metronome - A free online metronome
Posted by chek at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2008
Red Bull Soapbox Race
http://www.redbullsoapboxusa.com/races.aspx
Every year auto amateurs, gear heads and adrenaline junkies construct eccentric non-motorized carts to compete head to head in a downhill battle. This year Red Bull Soapbox Race travels to Philadelphia, Cincinnati, San Francisco and Denver.
Posted by chek at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
October 09, 2008
Metronome Online
http://www.metronomeonline.com
METRONOME ONLINE
Posted by chek at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)
October 08, 2008
Behnevis
http://www.behnevis.com/
Easy farsi transliteration (pinglish) editor
ویرایشگر (ادیتور) مبدل فارسی
بهنویس
Posted by chek at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)