In vitro gametogenesis - a new technique that converts stem cells from parents into sex cells, regardless of gender - could mean that both partners in a same-sex relationship could be biological parents to their off-spring.
While the technique has yet to be tried on humans, it potentially means a man’s sperm cell could create an egg and vice versa.
The research, which was published in The Journal of Law and Biosciences, was conducted by geneticists at George Washington University.
Talking about the new technique, Dr Sonia Suter said it could become the preferred fertility treatment in certain circumstances, but could be “more problematic” for single parent babies.
Dr George Ndkwe, the medical director of top London fertility clinic Zita West, said the technique could change the whole notion of parenthood in the future.
“There are possible uses of it, which in my opinion can be useful. For instance, for somebody who has no sperm at all or a woman who has no egg, if you can use any of their cells to create sperm or eggs then they can have treatment, so to use it in that way specifically for treatment, in my opinion may have some benefits," Dr Ndkwe told The Huffington Post.
“It would completely challenge our notion of parenthood with very complex legal implications. That’s where it gets very scary,” he said.
