Who Discovered Gender Selection?
The process of gender selection, used for parents who want to assure the sex of their child, is a highly conflicted topic since its discovery as a possibility by Dr. Landrum Shettles in the 1960s. It was in 1967 when two scientists by the names of Robert Edwards and David Gardner invented the much more contested preimplantation genetic diagnosis.
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The Shettles Method
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Dr. Landrum Shettles conceived a method of choosing the sex of a child with no cost or medical treatments necessary. Now known as the "Shettles Method," it is a process that takes timing of intercourse into account---having sexual relations monthly when ovulation occurs. Shettles recommended that couples have intercourse daily from the day the woman's period ends until two to four days before ovulation if they hope to have a girl. In order to have a boy, according to the Shettles Method, have intercourse two to three days after ovulation. It also recommended deeper penetration for a boy, and more shallow penetration for a girl.
PGD
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Preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, is a more hands-on medical approach to gender selection. Doctors Robert Edwards and David Gardner successfully sexed rabbit blastocysts in 1967, laying the groundwork for human PGD in the 1980s. Now potential parents can have their embryos---produced via in vitro fertilization---tested for genetic disorders, extra genetic material, genetic variants, and, of course, sex chromosomes. A cell is taken from the embryo when it is a group of eight cells and its DNA is removed for analysis. If the embryo has the desired qualities the parents are seeking, it is implanted into the mother's womb.
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Effectiveness
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The rate of effectiveness for the Shettles Method is around 75 percent, though there have been reports of anywhere up to 98 percent success. As for PGD and specifically testing for sex chromosomes, the method is nearly always 100 percent effective. There are several accounts, however, that PGD is more effective for couples hoping for a girl (90 percent), and less for a boy (70 percent).
Pros
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While pros of the Shettles Method include the possibility of affecting your child's gender, PGD has greater gains. Some families with genetic diseases in their history often choose gender selection in order to decrease the chance of passing the disease on. This is only possible when the disease(s) are "sex linked," or carried specifically on the X or Y chromosome. If a genetic disease carried on the X chromosome, having a daughter (XX) would increase the chance of passing it on, while having a son (XY) would lower the possibility.
Cons
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There are little to no negative aspects of the Shettles Method considering it is an in-the-home, natural technique that does not interfere with the reproductive process. For PGD, however, every embryo implant costs as much as $20,000, which can be problematic for many families. The latter method is also controversial on an ethical level; opponents of gender selection believe it interferes with nature's course.
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