Dr Wilmut said his own research while producing Dolly, the first cloned sheep, at the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, showed that the experiments might result in dozens of deformed babies.

If the decision went the other way, the baby was exposed – deliberately abandoned outside. This usually happened to deformed babies, or when the father did not think that the family could ...

They said "the baby is fully formed and is likely to be born alive." Inducing the woman for delivery at such an advanced stage may have "real risks of a deformed child as a result of premature birth".