The president of a firm that doesn't formally exist said yesterday that she still can't prove that her "human cloning company" has cloned any humans.
French chemist Brigitte Boisselier, head of Clonaid, said the American parents of a baby she had touted as the world's first human clone won't declare the child a U.S. citizen, won't submit her to testing, and plan to vanish forever from the public eye.
"I will not have contact with them any more," Ms. Boisselier said.
This retreat into anonymity breaks an agreement she had with the parents -- who received the cloning service for free -- but Ms. Boisselier said she will respect their wishes.
The apparent shyness of Ms. Boisselier's clients was just one of the difficulties she complained about to an audience of hand-picked journalists in Toronto.
Ms. Boisselier chose one of the city's most expensive conference rooms to declare that her costs have been rising since she revealed her secret cloning program on Dec. 27. Her organization is already in a legal battle in Florida over custody of the alleged clone.
The French government unveiled a draft law on Tuesday that could cause her more problems, as it calls human cloning a "crime against the human species" punishable by more than 20 years in jail.
Ms. Boisselier -- who describes herself as a priestess of a religion founded by aliens, the Quebec-based Raelian cult -- also complained yesterday that reporters haven't treated her cloning announcements with enough respect. Several media outlets, including The Globe and Mail and the CBC, were banned from the news conference.
Clonaid vice-president Thomas Kaenzig testified in a Florida court this week that the company is not incorporated anywhere and has no board of directors.