Dr. Severino Antinori, an Italian gynecologist and cloning proponent, yesterday announced that a woman would give birth to a cloned human in January, but he did not disclose the woman's name or provide scientific details of the cloned embryo, the New York Times reports. Antinori said he made a "scientific and cultural contribution," but was not in charge of the project. Antinori, who also would not disclose the woman's location or nationality, in May stated that three women were pregnant with cloned embryos and that the most advanced pregnancy was 10 weeks along (New York Times, 11/27). Because the most advanced pregnancy would have passed nine months in November, the pregnancy due in January apparently is not among the earlier three pregnancies, the Detroit Free Press reports (Detroit Free Press, 11/27). Antinori's claims regarding the cloned pregnancies have been received with "medical skepticism and criticism" (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 5/10). In June, Antinori stated in an interview with the Chicago Tribune that his cloning program included five women in five different countries who were pregnant with cloned embryos. Antinori, who claims to head a "cloning consortium" consisting of other gynecologists, biologists, veterinarians and reproductive medicine specialists, said that reproductive cloning should be used only to help those who are unable to have children naturally and "not for immortality" (Kaiser Daily Reproductive Health Report, 6/24). CNN's "Connie Chung Tonight" yesterday reported on Antinori's announcement of the cloned human birth expected in January. A transcript of the program is available online (Chung, "Connie Chung Tonight," CNN, 11/26).