CONSULTANTS FILMED EXPLOITING LOOPHOLE IN IVF LAW
RAFET Gazvani describes himself as a ‘very, very hard-working’ NHS doctor.
The 56-year-old is a consultant gynaecologist at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and a member of the British Fertility Society.
Respected in his field, he has published more than 70 papers and book chapters, is an expert referee for scientific journals and is an honorary university lecturer.
But as a sideline Mr Gazvani runs a highly controversial private fertility clinic. Its IVF service offers gender selection to patients – something he knows full well is illegal in the UK.
Mr Gazvani deals with around 30 couples a year who want to choose the sex of their child. His website lists details of the option through a partnership with an IVF centre in Northern Cyprus, but he says the procedure is illegal here and he does not encourage it for ‘social reasons’.
When undercover reporters posed as a couple with two boys wanting a girl, Mr Gazvani was happy to discuss preparing them to go abroad for the treatment.
The consultant said he arranges blood tests, scans and medication in the UK and helps pregnant women on their return.
At the British end he is in control, he explained, adding: ‘From a medical point of view, I am the only person that’s responsible for you. I will have your scans done in a facility in London Harley Street.’
The consultant can also arrange blood tests for gender selection patients at an NHS doctor’s surgery, the Heswall and Pensby practice on the Wirral, although it has no involvement in the clinical care provided by Mr Gazvani, who just rents a room privately there to run his clinic.
Mr Gazvani said the service he provides is not illegal but would be ‘frowned upon’. He admits his NHS boss would have a ‘little heart attack’ at the prospect of a patient going abroad for gender selection.
But he says insists in continuing it, even though it has led to arguments with his employers, because he is ‘stubborn’.
He told our reporters: ‘I think everyone should be allowed, under controlled circumstances, to do it. I’m doing what I believe and I’m old and established enough to be able to fight my corner.’
He said gender selection is a ‘small part, a very small part, of my private practice’ and from an ‘income point of view’ it doesn’t matter to him.
The consultant, who lives in a £900,000 detached house in the Wirral, charged £250 for the initial 40-minute Skype consultation about gender selection.
For couples who decide to go ahead, subsequent scans, screening and monitoring in the UK cost £2,375. The medication costs £1,300 to £3,300 and the fee for the Northern Cyprus clinic is around £7,000.
Mr Gazvani said: ‘Most of the couples I see, I must say, are of Indian background. They’re coming for boys. There is a very strong cultural push for it because it even affects their inheritance etcetera if you don’t have a boy in the family.’
White British couples make up the
‘My [NHS] chief executive would have a heart attack if a patient went abroad for a possible gender selection’ RAFET GAZVANI
remaining 10 per cent of his clients and almost all want girls, he said. The laws in Turkish-supported Northern Cyprus covering gender selection are unclear, but some clinics there say it is permitted only for ‘medical reasons’.
But Mr Gazvani said: ‘We can make anything medical reasons, for instance patients’ psychological situation. The couple are psychologically affected if they don’t have a girl. That’s the loophole.’
Mr Gazvani, who graduated from Istanbul University in 1986 and trained at the East Surrey General Hospital before settling near Liverpool, openly talks about gender selection on his Twitter feed.
But as a doctor he says he would not dream of carrying out the procedure in the UK. Asked by the reporters if any doctor would do this, he was emphatic. He said: ‘No, absolutely not. Nobody in their right mind would do it because it would be illegal. For any doctor it would be stupid, probably enough to deregister the doctor from the General Medical Council or have severe repercussions.’
Contacted by the Mail for comment, Mr Gazvani said: ‘I understand some people may have moral issues relating to gender selection in fertility treatment.
‘However, during the consultation when these were discussed I did try to emphasise that there are many reasons people may choose to undergo such treatment abroad and that is an individual’s choice.
‘The consultations and treatments I provide are entirely legal and are completely separate from my NHS work.’
DM: ‘Shall I tell GP?’ ‘No, no, no, no. All you can say is you are going for IVF’ DABEER SALARIA ‘ You know we have the technology these days, so why not? Most fertility specialists have a link with somebody who does it’ SARA MATTHEWS
SARA Matthews, a gynaecologist based at the private Portland Hospital in central London, sends patients who request gender selection to Dubai.
The consultant is open about offering the service despite knowing it is against the law in Britain – with a ‘family balancing’ section on her recently-launched website.
She told our undercover reporters: ‘It is illegal here. I send most of my couples to Dubai. We get you ready and I just let them know when you’re coming over. I would have ethical objections if you came here and you hadn’t had any children and you said right, I want a designer girl baby with curly blonde hair and whatever.
‘But with two boys – you know I don’t want to have eight children but I would love a little girl. We have the technology, so why not?’
Miss Matthews – who has had an independent practice at the Portland since 2008 – said she leaves it up to patients whether to tell their GP about their plans. She added: ‘Your GP can certainly do the blood test if he’s willing.’
She charges couples £3 5 for an initial consultation, up to £2,500 for medication, £220 for scans and up to £350 for blood tests in the UK. She sends them to Dubai’s Fakih Clinic, which charges £4,400 for a partial cycle.
She said she could not ‘overly publicise’ gender selection, but that it was ‘not an issue’.
Asked for comment, Miss Matthews said: ‘I have no problem in helping patients find reputable clinics, liaising with them to ensure the couple get a good quality treatment.
‘I have refused childless patients who come asking to have a child of a certain sex, but in this day and age I have no moral dilemma with patients who have two or more children of one sex and want another of a different gender.’ CONSULTANT obstetrician and gynaecologist Dabeer Salaria recently set up International Health Plus in London.
It is described on its website as a ‘medical tourism facilitation service’ which specialises in IVF treatment within the UK and abroad. Mr Salaria said he has been helping patients get overseas treatment for 20 years.
But when asked by one of our reporters whether she should tell her GP about gender selection, he replied: ‘No, no, no. No, all you can say is you are going for an IVF.’
He justified his comments by saying that those who object to gender selection for moral reasons ‘want to keep control of people’s lives’.
Mr Salaria, a fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said treatment costs £12,000 per cycle, not including the cost of medication to stimulate ovaries. Repeat cycles with frozen embryos cost up to £2,000.
He said he offers initial appointments in Harley Street before sending couples to Conceive, a gynaecology and fertility hospital in Dubai.
Mr Salaria said the Mail’s undercover reporter was correctly advised that ‘gender selection is illegal in the UK but not illegal in other jurisdictions’.