- Europe's first fertility centre solely for lesbians and
single women will open in Harley Street, today.
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- The Women's New Life Centre has been established to provide
a service for lesbians and single women who want a "do-it-yourself"
baby.
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- It opens three months after Mannotincluded.com became
the first internet site dedicated to helping lesbians find sperm donors.
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- Three thousand couples registered with the site, which
claimed it had inquiries from 5,000 potential donors, within 10 days of
its launch.
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- Pro-family organisations described the service as "revolting".
Other critics said it was a worrying development in today's "babies
on demand" culture.
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- But John Gonzales, the website founder who is opening
the centre, said: "It has been launched in response to the insensitive
way in which lesbian and single women are treated by a number of clinics
due to social prejudice."
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- Most fertility clinics refused to treat lesbian couples,
leaving them instead to come to private arrangements with friends prepared
to donate sperm for DIY insemination, he said.
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- Mr Gonzales, a married man and father of four daughters,
said he expected about 800 women to visit the centre in its first year.
After the London launch he hopes to open clinics in Manchester and Edinburgh.
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- The centre has applied for a licence from the Human Fertilisation
and Embryology Authority to carry out inseminations and store frozen sperm
on the premises.
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- Ann Furedi, of the HFEA said: "We will consider
the application in the same way as any other centre applying for a licence
to carry out donor inseminations."
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- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/200
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