The Importance Of Selecting The Sex Of A Baby

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Register to read the introduction… “PGD has been available since 1990 for testing of aneuploidy in low prognosis in vitro fertilization (IVF) patients, and for single gene and X linked diseases in at risk couples” (Robertson, pg. 476). In this technique a cell is removed from an embryo and tested for genetic or chromosomal conditions of concern. “More than two-thirds of PGD has occurred to screen out embryos with chromosomal abnormalities in older IVF patients and in patients with history of miscarriage.” (Robertson, pg. 476). Non-medical use of PGD to select gender when couples already have a child is considered less sexist. A couple may want a certain gender due to the experiences of having children of the same sex. Robertson states, “psychologist now recognise many biologically based differences between male and female children, including different patterns of aggression, learning, and spatial recognition, as well as hormonal differences” (pg. 479). BMJ (2001) US doctors say sex selection acceptable for non-medical reasons states there is a group that makes rules surrounding the field of reproductive medicine. The group said “that the practice was justified when parents were aiming to avoid the incidence of certain sex linked genetic traits (par. 3). Other instances are when a couple already has a girl and but due to cultural needs they would like to have a boy. An example of …show more content…
Do you want your child to have blue eyes? Should your baby be born a magical singer? Perhaps a certain height or color of hair interests you. How do you think your baby would feel growing knowing their traits were handpicked? Giving parents the write to select the sex of the baby has been argued unethical and would open doors to building dream babies. Will the opportunity to allow parents to select the sex of their baby encourage a sexist society? There are already reports indicating the strong desire for women that want daughters. Conversely, the argument to allow sex selection cannot be disregarded. The uses of preimplantation genetic diagnosis for medical reason have benefited certain families greatly. Such as those couples that have been able to select the specific sex of an embryo that does not carry genetic diseases in order to have a healthy baby. Perhaps there are cultural reasons that a couple needs to have a son; with PDG that family has the ability to live out those cultural needs as a result of selecting the sex of the baby. Although there are notions such as selecting intelligence or even a baby’s sexual orientation that may not exist yet, however, would you consider the process? There are pros and cons on both ends of the spectrum, and both sides support a different view on where selecting sex could take

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