Clones born, says doctor

Maverick Italian fertility doctor Severino Antinori says at least three babies have been born from cloned embryos in reproduction experiments he has collaborated on.

Antinori is viewed with scepticism by many scientists and has never produced any peer review evidence.

In May 2002, Antinori said three women were pregnant with clones. In November that year, he said a woman pregnant with a cloned embryo was due to give birth in January, but has since refused to talk about it.

Asked yesterday about the cloning attempts he was involved in, he said: "At least three went well."

Antinori declined to say whether they were multiple births by the same mother or separate births. The topic was "too taboo" to talk about.