Gender selection methods range from ancient Chinese birth charts to modern scientific techniques like preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and Microsort. PGD is 100% accurate but invasive and expensive, while Microsort is less invasive but still in clinical trials. The Ericsson method is non-invasive and inexpensive but less accurate. Some methods are based on timing and predicting the best times in a woman’s cycle for certain genders. While some have no problem with gender selection, others raise ethical and religious objections, and some countries have banned or restricted it.
Gender selection is the attempt to select or influence the sex of your baby through scientific or unscientific means. For millennia, cultures and societies have placed great importance on the gender of their children, depending on how much males or females dominated society. As a result, there are not only advances in medical science to aid in this endeavor, but also countless old wives’ stories claiming to have the solution to gender selection.
Since the identification of genetic disorders, parents who are carriers of X-linked or associated diseases such as hemophilia or Duchenne muscular dystrophy have used gender selection to select sperm that can lead to a child born with the disease . Fertility clinics have come up with the euphemism “Family Balancing” to describe gender selection used solely to choose the sex of the child, not to avoid disease.
Generations of mothers have relied on the ancient Chinese birth chart, which claims to predict a baby’s gender based on the mother’s age and month of conception. Others believe that red meat, salty snacks, and soda pop for dad will result in a boy, and lots of fish, veggies, and chocolate will result in a girl. Some popular wisdom states that different positions during intercourse, the time of day, the lunar calendar, and the temperature of the testicles all contribute to the sex of the baby.
While some of these might actually work, or might just be coincidence, there is a 50-50 chance of conceiving both genders with every pregnancy. Today, more and more people are turning to science to ensure gender. There are several methods, some more proven than others, to ensure gender selection.
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a type of prenatal diagnosis in which non-implanted embryos are tested for sex. Once the desired sex has been identified, the approved embryo is returned for implantation. This process uses in vitro fertilization (IVF), which uses drugs to stimulate ovulation. The eggs are collected from the mother and then fertilized with the father’s sperm. The viable embryos are implanted into the mother’s uterus in the hope that pregnancy will be viable.
Leftover embryos are frozen or donated for future use, although no one can guarantee that they will not be destroyed. Since PGD has been practiced since 1989, it has quite a long history of success. PGD is 100% accurate through testing at the genetic level. PGD is invasive and because it uses IVF, there is a higher chance of multiples. It is also very expensive at almost 20,000 US Dollars (USD).
Microsort, or “sperm selection,” is another form of gender selection. This process works on the belief that the sperm that girls produce is bigger than the sperm that boys produce. The sperm is stained with a fluorescent dye and then illuminated. Because female sperm cells are larger, they absorb more dye, making them brighter. The sperm is separated and then artificially inseminated into the mother in the hope that an egg will be fertilized. While this tends to be used with Artificial Insemination (AI), it can also be used with IVF.
Microsort is less invasive than PGD and cheaper by $5,000 to $16,000. The success rate is 90% for girls and 74% for boys. Unfortunately, it is still in clinical trials and not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration. This process carries a lower risk of multiples and no extra embryos are created.
The Ericsson method of gender selection claims to separate sperm based on the assumption that male sperm swim faster than female sperm. This process, in use since the 1970s, separates sperm by pouring a sample onto a sticky layer of liquid in a test tube. In theory, the boy’s sperm swims in first and the desired gender is collected. Using artificial intelligence, the sperm is inseminated. The Ericsson method is non-invasive and inexpensive at approximately USD 600. Success rates are 75-80% for boys, 73-75% for girls.
Other methods, including the Shettles and Whelan methods, are based on the belief that at different times during a woman’s ovulation, the environment is more hospitable for certain gender-producing sperm cells. The report is timed to coincide with these changes. Gender selection kits work in much the same way, predicting which times in a woman’s cycle are best for certain genders.
While many people have no problem with meddling with nature, others have raised serious ethical and religious objections to this matter. Many argue that our obsession with gender has led to female infanticide around the world. Several countries have banned or restricted gender selection. Right now, the United States allows gender selection for both genetic and preferential reasons, while other countries only allow genetic disease avoidance.
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