Sally hopes to use sex selection technology to have a baby girl. She already has two young sons, but her daughter died eight years ago of meningitis at the age of just five.

"I really enjoyed having a daughter, and I miss her very much," she said.

"I would like the balance back in my family that I had originally."

There are a lot people who have good reason to want to chose the sex of their child

She said that if the technology did not work and she had another boy she would be perfectly happy.

"I would not be looking for 100%, I would just like the opportunity to try for the sex of the child I would like.

"If that was not to be then that would be fine, but at least I would like to try to make my odds slightly better than they are naturally.

"There are lots of people I know who would like to have a child of a different sex just to balance out their family."

Too expensive

Sally examined the possibility of going to the US, where the technology is already freely available.

However, the fact that she had a young family, and that high cost made that impractical.

"It is very frustrating that it is available, but I don't have the opportunity to have the chance."

However, she said it would be wrong to simply walk into a clinic and choose the sex of a baby without giving it careful consideration.

"It needs a lot of thought, and probably a lot of counselling.

"There ought to be good reason for choosing the sex of your child.

"I don't think you should just be able to decide one day I want a boy and two years later I want a girl.

"But there are a lot people who have good reason to want to chose the sex of their child.

"I can understand why people would feel it was not right, but each family has different reasons for wanting to chose the sex of their child, and I think each should be considered on their merits."