European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 24, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pago 10 the stars and stripes world sunday january 24,1993 us. Clinic process to choose babies sex May prompt abortions critics say London up a medical experts condemned a private London clinic that claims it can help couples choose the sex of their baby. The London gender clinic opened thursday and of Fred the service to parents for about $1,000. The clinic uses a method it claims separates sperm that will pro Ducc female offspring from those that will produce male offspring. But doctors and medical experts said the system not Only is unethical but could Lead to the abortion of be tiles not of the chosen sex Quot it is not a particularly validated system and it May still be dangerous a a said a spokeswoman for the British medical association. Quot it is also unethical to terminate a pregnancy purely because of the sex of the baby and not for medical reasons. Quot if there san 80 percent Chance of the sex Choice being successful then if the method is not successful there is a risk the Mother May abort Quot she said. Or. Allan Rose of the London gender clinic defended the procedure claiming dozens of similar clinics exist elsewhere that have produced 1,500 live births using the technique. Quot the outcome has been successful in 70 to 80 percent of cases Quot Rose said. Quot it therefore seems right that we should try it in this  the clinic takes sperm from the male partner and tries to separate faster sperm from slower sperm using centrifugal Force. Sperm that produce male offspring Are said to move faster. The woman then is artificially inseminated with the chosen sperm. In Washington a spokeswoman for the american College of obstetricians and gynaecologists questioned whether the clinics Success rate claim was valid Quot it involves artificial insemination so it is complicated Quot said Kate Ruddon of the organization. She said some clinics in the United states also have promoted the technique. Quot a lot of researchers question the 80 percent Success rate a Ruddon said. Quot they say Large controlled studies in humans Haven to been  the British department of health said it would be monitoring the London clinic but had no Power to investigate it. A spokesman for Britain a human fertilization and embryology authority said that screening methods can be used to detect diseases but that they could upset the balance of nature if used for social reasons. However he said the clinics methods do not come under the authority of his Agency because women visiting the clinic Are inseminated with sperm from their own partners. He said that if one of the 130 centers licensed by the Agency wanted to use this method of preparing sperm officials would ask it to wait until discussions about sex selection were completed. Hard times throw doubt on cosmonaut program Moscow map a a team of cosmonauts prep arca to take off for the orbiting Mir space station sunday with the future of the troubled russian space program in jeopardy. Cosmonauts Gennady Malakov and Alexander Poleshchuk were to ride a soyuz tm-16 rocket into space to replace Anatoly Solovyov and Sergei Avdeyev aboard the aging Mir space station. Solovyov and Avdeyev have been in space since july 27. The head of the cosmonaut training Center said times arc so hard that he had even debated whether he could afford to bring the Crew members to the Bai Konur space Center on separate flights a Standard practice in the past. A alas the dire condition of our Economy compels us to save on cosmonauts Quot Pyotr Klimuk told the itar Tass news Agency. As it turned out the training Center was Able to uphold tradition and bring cosmonauts Malakov and polish Chuyuk on a different flight from the backup team. Future missions could face even Graver problems with Money and morale. Quot there is Little doubt that the launch will be successful. Yet the staff of the cosm drome is losing Confidence in the future Quot Commonwealth of Independent states television reported Friday. The space program fell on hard times after the breakup of the soviet Union last year. Individual states now part of the Commonwealth have Laid claim to at least partial control of portions of the program on their territory. A steadily worsening Economy has taken a heavy toll. The to report said there Are no engines for the six launches scheduled for this year. Russian space officials also fear the 6-year-old Mir space station will have to be replaced soon. News reports said the main feature of the flight will be the Docking procedure in which Malakov and Poleshchuk will manually link up their spacecraft with the Mir. Previously Docking was done automatically. British Tot attacked by terrier undergoes 3 hours of surgery no Snow Means no dough Joseph Inderbitzin owner of a ski lift at the Mortl Alp gis Wil in Central Switzerland has free time Friday to pursue his Hobby a playing the accordion. Lack of Snow caused by we eking Spring temperatures has kept away customers a As Well As profits. For More weather news see Page 13. London up a an 18-month-od girl was in stable condition in a West midlands Hospital saturday after being attacked by a Staffordshire Bull terrier her parents had just bought As a pet. Danielle Rolfe underwent a three hour plastic surgery operation and had 50 stitches to her face neck and jaw after Friday s attack at the family s Home in West Bromwich the child had been playing alone with the 2-year-od dog when it turned on her. Quot Danielle was being shaken about like a rag doll Quot a police spokesman said. The child a father Carl tried unsuccessfully to Force the dogs jaws open before hitting the animal on the head with a Hammer to make it let go he said. The plastic surgeon who operated on Danielle Ruth Lester said the child could easily have died from her injuries. Quot i have seen very Many such injuries and i would put Danielle a in the very severe category. Her injuries Are still potentially life threatening Quot Lester said. She added Quot i would urge All parents never 1o leave their children alone with a  the dog which was destroyed at the father s request had been bought from another member of the family a few Days before the attack. Quot it was supposed to be Good with children Quot the police spokesman said. Canada says recession Over despite High jobless rate Toronto apr the recession has ended in Canada. At least that a the View of the Federal governments official number crunchers. A the 11.5 percent of the Canadian work Force that finds itself unemployed might beg to differ however. Quot the recession is done history a said Philip Cross the director of current analysis Tor statistics Canada affirming the pronouncement made thursday in the economic observer the statistical Agency a monthly publication. The old saying that the Canadian Economy is merely the Tail of the american dog seemed to be borne out again. The United states declared its recession Over dec i a a the canadians figure their recession began in april 1990. They Are unsure when it ended but their Best gue it it is sometime in the second half of last year. Unemployment Rose from 7.3 percent in april to a High of 11.8 percent in november 1992, Faller 11.5 percent in december. Quot go and talk to the people across the country ask them if they notice anything different today they did last week Quot said Bob White president of Canadian labor Congress. 1 he answer will be a absolutely not the jobs Arlt there for people and people still Are being Laid