The Facts On Gender Selection

Gender selection is a hot and controversial topic right now.

Just about everyone has heard about someone who managed to conceive a child of the desired sex through more ‘natural’ methods, such as eating certain foods, having sex at a certain time of the month, even specific positions and head locations (one lady I know swears that by having sex with her bed, and head, facing north, she got the little boy she was after!), but the question that remains for most couples is how far would you go to have a baby of the desired sex?

The sex ‘desirability’ of children in countries like Australia, New Zealand, USA and the UK tend to be more linked with wanting to create a balance in the already existing family. 80% of requests to IVF clinics in Australia are for gender selection from women who already have at least two sons and want a girl. Although gender selection is illegal in Australia, recent research reveals that 50% of Australian adults would like to choose the sex of their child, and that up to 10 Australian couples are travelling overseas per month to complete the treatment that will allow them to choose. A staggering percentage of parents have also stated that gender selection is so important to them that they are not deterred by the cost, which is significant considering that the procedure costs between $25,000 and $30,000 at IVF clinics in the US (not including flights, accommodation, fertility drug costs etc).

But the procedure has not always been illegal in Australia. From 1998 – 2004, the PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) treatment was available in NSW, until the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) issued guidelines against sex-selection IVF and effectively banned doctors from carrying out the procedure.

So How Does Gender Selection Work?

The gender selection procedure most couples use is called PGD and involves creating embryos outside of the womb and testing them for genetic disorders and gender. The treatment involves preliminary fertility treatment to help the woman grow 10-12 eggs. These are then extracted from her womb, fertilised with her partners sperm and the chosen embryos are genetically tested and then returned to the womb. The woman then takes a pregnancy test 2 weeks later and, if she is pregnant, has a 99.9% chance of having a child of the desired sex.

Why Is It So Controversial?

The NHMRC states that gender selection compromises the ‘unconditional acceptance’ between a parent and their child, and that it could ultimately create an imbalance of men and women, much like the issues faced in China, after the implantation of their ‘one-child policy’ has lead to a country with a massive majority of boys and too few women to for maturing generations.

The primary reason the public are resistant to gender selection is that the existence of a child should be based on what sex they are. There is a great danger in attaching stereotypical characteristics to certain genders and parents must remember they are creating an individual, not just a boy or a girl. Many people believe it is a technology that should not be something society should encourage (or make widely available) even if an easy, more affordable option should become available.

However, the other side to this viewpoint is that if a successful pre-conception sex selection method was available, it may help prevent the abortion or infanticide rates in countries where female babies are not desired. But this is happening not only in other countries. It was reported earlier this year that a Melbourne couple opted for an abortion of their twin boys as they were so desperate for a girl and already had three boys! Another Melbourne woman was questioned by police after aborting her 20 week fetus because she was female, but no charges were laid as abortion is legal in Victoria. Melbourne’s Fertility Control Clinic also revealed that parents have requested abortions on gender grounds, however it is extremely rare.

At present the technology is reserved for detecting debilitating sex-linked genetic disorders, such as haemophilia and muscular dystrophy which are only prevalent in boys. However, most medical and fertility specialists agree that changes need to be made to the legislation surrounding gender selection, that it is a natural human desire and modern technology should be able to assist. Most IVF specialists believe the treatment should not be encouraged but should not be illegal, stating that it is not about creating ‘designer babies’, but considering gender balance as a reasonable request.

So would you take advantage of science and technology to ‘balance’ out your family? Or let nature take its course?