Most couples would like to have children of both sexes, especially in our current way of life where more and more people prefer smaller families. This is due to the fact that everything is so expensive. With today technology it’s possible for doctors through fertility treatments that are more advanced, to identify female and male embryos.
This option is available to couples today. In addition, couples can now also avoid passing on genetic sex-linked disorders to their children. The same goes for parents that want to balance their family and already have a child or children of one sex. Choosing a child’s gender has been subjected to a variety of debates quite extensively due to ART/assisted reproductive technology since it started.
I was very lucky through the conventional way to have two children and one of each gender. Yet, many couples might try for conceiving a boy or a girl and don’t see success until maybe the fifth time. By selecting your baby’s gender which is also called family balancing, it’s possible to have both sexes and keep the family smaller.
In certain countries, this procedure might only be permitted for preventing transmission of genetic sex-linked diseases. Although, in others, it can be a practice that is common in fertility clinics.
During development of an embryo, the differentiation of gender may occur prior to fertilization. It’s usually determined by the contribution of genetic material of a father’s sperm because he carries an X and Y chromosome which is responsible for a baby’s gender. Women’s egg cells carry only the X chromosome which means the combination can either be XX for a girl and XY for a boy.
Due to this factor, selecting a gender may involve manipulation during an early stage of embryonic development or fertilization. Techniques of assisted reproduction can allow couples in choosing their baby’s gender during these specific stages.
Stages may include:
Before you conceive
This involves a procedure to choose a sperm for a couple’s desired gender prior to fertilization and allow the fertility doctor to perform it without using IVF.
After you conceive
The doctor selects an embryo for the gender that is desired directly after it’s fertilized and then transfers the embryo back into the uterus of the mother.
While a woman is pregnant
In this case, a woman can voluntarily terminate her pregnancy, if the baby is not the gender they desire, which is called sex-selective abortion.
Due to reasons that are ethical, this type of abortion won’t be a recommended technique in choosing an unborn baby’s gender. Although, woman have the option to choose a VTOP/voluntary termination of pregnancy, which will purely depend on their choice.
Couples that choose a procedure to select the gender of their new baby will very often have opinions like these listed below.
Some couples believe if they have lost a child they can choose gender. Choosing a gender that is the same for their new baby won’t replace the one they have lost, but it might help them to work through the loss.
It’s been suggested that when a parent receives the gender of their choice, they can love the child more, but that is not really relevant to everyone.
This procedure may help in preventing any gender-related diseases of being transmitted to the new baby, which can benefit the child and the parent.
New parents that plan for balancing their family with fewer children in this economy, might prefer selecting their children as it will be easier to provide them with what they need.
For a part of the community that doesn’t believe in choosing your child’s gender, it can raise the following points as listed.
They feel it’s not really necessary and very expensive, as well as the fact that it won’t increase the likelihood to fall pregnant.
It’s not always a hundred percent accurate except when the chosen technique is IVF together with PGD to select the gender, but it’s the option that is most expensive.
Most couples prefer to guess their baby’s gender while pregnant. Thus, by choosing the gender up front, it can eliminate the surprise element. However, a couple that wants a boy and a girl, who after four tries, just have either boys or girls, won’t agree with a guessing game.
Sometimes others might say it may contribute to inequality of gender and cause an imbalance.