Ethics

MPs have urged the government to open an enquiry after officials found signs that birth rates for girls and boys vary noticeably according to where their mothers were born.

Earl Howe, a health minister, said that these differences in rates of male and female births among mothers of certain nationalities may 'fall outside the range considered possible without intervention'.

It formed the first official statistical evidence potentially backing up concerns that sex-selection abortions are being carried out in Britain.

The UK could move a step closer to allowing the creation of babies from two women and a man later.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is to advise ministers and report on a public consultation and the latest advances in the field.

The three-person IVF technique could be used to prevent debilitating and fatal "mitochondrial" diseases. But some groups have raised ethical and safety concerns about creating babies with DNA from three people.

The babies would have DNA from two parents and a tiny amount from a third person.

The patches are being distributed by nurses employed by NHS South West Essex who visit schools every fortnight and speak to the children confidentially.

NHS guidelines say children as young as 12 can access nicotine patches from chemists and GPs throughout the country, but it's up to each primary care trust what services they offer.

Parents at one school in Basildon, Essex voiced concerns that parents weren't being told about the service.