How Does Gender Selection Work?

Gender selection allows parents to opt for a boy or girl.

The concept of gender selection has long been the source of old wives' tales focusing on what to do during the conception process. However, modern advances in fertility treatments have made it possible for parents to choose the gender of their children.

Function

Before in-vitro fertilization occurs, preimplantation genetic screening can determine the gender of an egg. Embryos are developed into cleavage-stage embryos, and one blastomere is removed from each for genetic testing.

Benefits

Gender selection can help parents avoid genetic diseases passed along through the mother's X-chromosome. Some parents chose to preselect gender out of preference; this is becoming increasingly popular in Arabic countries, which place a strong importance on a family having a male heir.

Considerations

Objections have been raised over the moral, societal and religious implications of removing healthy embryos from the in-vitro fertilization process strictly for gender selection reasons. In 2005 the Australian Health Ethics Committee banned sex selection for nonmedical purposes through in-vitro fertilization.

References

• EMedicine: Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis
• The Media Line: Gender Selection in the Middle East Becoming More Popular
• The Herald Sun: The ethics of choosing a baby's gender

Resources

• Gender Selection Guide