A GIGGLESWICK couple and their newly-born son will appear on a television programme which aims to discover whether parents can influence the way their child develops.

Neil and Gillian Roberts, of The Mains, will be one of the couples to feature in "Child of Our Time", an ambitious new BBC One project headed by well-known leading fertility expert Lord Robert Winston.

The programme is the start of a 20-year project, which will follow 20 sets of parents whose babies were born at the dawn of the millennium.

It will ask whether parents can influence how their children will develop, whether pre-natal conditioning, such as playing numeracy tapes to the child in the womb, can really make a difference and whether it is possible to affect children's personalities and talents.

The Roberts' son William, who was born on January 13, will be the focal point of the series.

The first programme, next Wednesday, focuses on 10 parents' hopes and ambitions for their unborn babies, and the ways in which they have already tried to foster particular talents, such as sportiness, musicality, or even memory and intelligence. By following the families in years to come, the programme will be able to examine whether the parents' efforts have paid off.

William's father Neil, a partner at Settle's Dalehead Veterinary Practice, and mother Gillian, who studied law before becoming a housewife, have told programme producers they hope William will be sporty like his father.

Gillian told the Herald the programme makers were interested in Neil because he was sporty, his main sport being Fives, a game similar to squash but which is played wearing leather gloves and hitting the ball with your hands.

Both Neil and William were tested for the "ace" gene, which has been linked to physical prowess.

"I am not sporty at all," said Gillian. "I'm the complete opposite, so it will be interesting to see whether he inherits sportiness from Neil."

The wide range of studies being carried out on the millennium babies coincide with a phase of rapidly expanding investigation on genes and research into influences within the womb.

The programme makers have set up their own experiments alongside these existing studies. It is hoped when the project concludes in 20 years' time, scientific understanding of the influence of nature and nurture on children's lives will have greatly progressed. Lord Winston hopes that in six years some of the genes linked with certain abilities may be known.

Gillian, who also has 22-month old twins, Alice and Charles, was filmed throughout her latest pregnancy, and was even filmed whilst having her caesarean.

During her pregnancy Gillian kept "kicking charts", an experiment linked to university research which put forward the notion that if a baby kicked more in the womb it would be more active and cry more.

Gillian said: "This theory did not work with William though, as he kicked a lot in the womb but then turned out to be a quiet baby."

She also played Vivaldi's Four Seasons to the unborn William to discover if he had heard the music in the womb and could recognise it afterwards. Gillian also had to take him to London for various tests in the first weeks of his life.

Gillian added that she was sceptical about the issue of "designer babies" and influencing the way a child develops.

She said: "I think mainly babies genetically inherit their traits and I don't think you can really do a lot to influence them.

"We're not trying to influence William, we just think it would be interesting to take part in such an experiment. Really I would not want to have any control. I think the point of being a parent is gradually finding out what your child is like."

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