Professor says families should ‘stop at two children’

Summary of story from The Scotsman, November 1, 2011

One of Scotland’s most eminent scientists has argued that, in order to tackle the world’s soaring population, couples in the UK should have no more than two children.

Professor Sir Ian Wilmut put forward his views in the Scotsman as the planet’s population officially hit seven billion.

Wilmut, a professor of reproductive biology, most famous for his role in cloning Dolly the Sheep, argued that “population control is essential and beneficial even in countries like our own”, because of the strain such a large number of people place on the planet’s resources.

He added: “What is needed now is government promotion of the fact that having more than two children is imposing unacceptable demands upon the environment.”