Gender selection is an increasingly popular method for parents to make a decision about the type of family they want to have. Some parents consider a perfect family to be one boy and one girl, or all boys or all girls. Nature does not always fit into our ideas of perfection, but with gender selection, parents have the opportunity to choose the gender of their children. However, gender selection is not without risks.

Gender Selection

Gender selection is the process of selecting single-sex embryos so that the result is a possible fertilization of the gender the parents select. One way this is done is by removing one cell from an eight-cell embryo and analyzing its genetic makeup. An embryo with the cell makeup that matches the selected gender will be transferred into the uterus in an attempt to produce a baby. A pregnancy is not guaranteed to result from every transfer, and the procedure may need to be repeated.

Wrong Gender

Gender selection, while scientifically based, is not completely foolproof. There is a chance that you will get the wrong gender, regardless of the fact that you chose the one you prefer. This mistake happens most frequently with sperm sorting, where the physician attempts to sort the father's sperm by whether they carry the X or Y chromosome, and using a sperm sample in an attempt to impregnate the mother. Getting the wrong gender can lead to unpreparedness, resentment and a feeling of disconnection between the parents and the child.

Ethics

Procreation has always been an act of nature, and until recently, parents had no choice in the gender selection of their child. In many cases, creating children has been thought of as an act of God, and deliberately singling out a specific gender is considered by some people to be interfering with the workings of nature or with God's will.

Cost vs. Success

Gender selection, depending upon which method you choose and where you get it done, can be expensive. Some procedures cost upwards of several thousand dollars. Because this procedure is not a guarantee, you may pay a lot of money for the wrong gender if a mistake is made. Worse yet, you may end up having the procedure done multiple times in order for a pregnancy to result from an implant.

Gender-Related Diseases

Some diseases are gender-related, and choosing the gender can make your child more likely to be susceptible to them. If you are going to consider gender selection, a geneticist should test you and your partner in order to determine whether or not you are the carrier for any gender-related diseases.

Source:

Center for Human Reproduction: Gender Selection

Tyler Medical Clinic: Sex Selection

A Pregnancy Guide: Gender Selection