Brave New World Watch — Offshore Artificial Insemination Clinics

The Guardian [London} reports: Fertility ships where British couples will be able to receive treatment forbidden in the UK could soon be anchored off the coast in international waters. Entrepreneurs are planning to hire ships to offer treatments that include inseminations by sperm from anonymous donors or more controversial techniques such as gender selection.
More: Ships off the coast could offer insemination with sperm from anonymous donors, which some couples prefer. Floating fertility clinics would also get round other aspects of the law which childless couples might find burdensome, such as the rule in Denmark that frozen embryos must be destroyed after two years, or the prohibition in many countries on sex selection. “Taking advantage of the international shipping legislation would not be illegal,” said Mr Schou, at the sperm bank in the Danish university town of Aarhus where anonymous student donors are plentiful. “The idea is to have ships staffed with professional people from the local country. UK doctors would be employed and take care of UK patients. There is a market for hundreds of ships in Europe and the most obvious markets will be around the UK and Italy. It is just a question of how quickly they can organise. The finance is there because it is such a huge market.”
A few years ago, activists sponsored an abortion ship. Now, we face the prospect of an artificial insemination ship — taking advantage of the seas in order to skirt the law.