Gender selection

[Gbobs]

I'm just watching This Morning where they are talking about choosing the sex of your child. There is a woman who has four boys and is so desperate for a girl she is going to Cyprus and paying over £7k to go through the process to get pregnant and ensure it is a girl. The debate is about whether it should be available in the UK.

So what are people's thoughts on this? Is it fine for a couple to pre-determine the sex of their baby - (assuming there is no genetic or medical advantage/necessity to ensuring either a boy or girl) and purely because they really want one or the other? Or is it going against nature and people should just be happy they can produce a healthy child no matter what sex they end up with?

I'm not really sure where I stand on this at all but just thought it was an interesting topic to bring up and see where people stand on it.

 

[Lightworker]

Sorry for my ignorance but how does it work? Do they ferilize the egg outside the womb then select the female embryo? And what happens to the male one?

 

[Mark&Annie]

Yes I think it should be available, why should people have to go abroad and risk complications when they could do it more safely at home? I don't think as some say there would be an imbalance in the gender selected, as it was reported as many families want boys as girls, it just means the family who would have had their 4th boy, get a girl instead, and visa versa!

 

[Gbobs]

I don't know a great deal, only what I've heard from what they were saying - which is that it works like IVF - the eggs are fertilized outside the womb and then screened to see which are carrying male or female chromosomes and then they implant the egg which is the sex of the baby the couple want. They also mentioned that of course like IVF it might not work so you may pay all that money and it doesn't happen.

 

[Nibblenic]

I believe they create the egg/sperm baby like ivf in a test tube then they deliberatly select then ones with the gender of choice to put back.
So like any ivf a certain number of cells are created and then the best ones are put in to try and inceminate. This sleecting is based on gender aswell as quality.

I really dont think I am okay with creating a child and having a choice of gender. I think if ou are going to screen embryos I would worry much more about the chances of long healthy life, no cancer genes no physical disability or congenital disorders.

I did have a longing for a certain gender and im happy to say I got what I wanted but in all honesty I think if you have a happy healthy child and you should be happy with you lot in life. Lets face it xx xy choromosones dont necessarily mean you will have a little princess or the next England football player. I think more and more gender lines are blurred anyway.

 

[Gbobs]

Yes I think it should be available, why should people have to go abroad and risk complications when they could do it more safely at home? I don't think as some say there would be an imbalance in the gender selected, as it was reported as many families want boys as girls, it just means the family who would have had their 4th boy, get a girl instead, and visa versa!

But, as they were also discussing - should it be available on the NHS?

My gut feeling is NO, unless it's for health/medical reasons - i.e if a couple are both carrying a gene that means if it's a boy for instance it's very likely would inherit a medical defect/illness etc. With the NHS stretched as it is, I don't think it's ethical that drugs to treat cancer etc are less available but to then allow people to have this procedure at the taxpayers expense just because they have four boys and want a girl or vice versa. If anything that money would be better off going towards treating people who have fertility problems to give them a better chance of having a child at all.

Whilst I think I'm more on the side of letting nature take it's course, if someone wanted to fund it themselves then I don't have a major problem with it. But again there was the argument then on This Morning of it only being available to the rich.

 

[Mark&Annie]

No certainly not! It should be a private thing that if you really want it, you work your ass off to pay for it.

 

[tallybee]

It's a tricky one... but if the technology's there, people will find ways to get it, so it would make sense for it to be allowed in this country - if only so that it can be done under our regulations and safety.

On the Q of it being available on the NHS - No. The NHS is there to provide treatment for health needs - not frivolous wants. The waters become rather muddied when the genetic disorder stuff comes in... perhaps in some cases when IVF is being done anyway, this technique could be used to minimise risk of gender-specific disorders. But NO WAY should public funds be thrown at satisfying some preference for one gender over the other - any more than they should be used for nose jobs or butt implants.

So yeah, basically I believe that it's silly to disallow it, but if folks are choosy they should fund it themselves.

 

[annawrigley]

I just posted on the other thread but thought of another point, I don't like the idea of buying a child

 

[Nibblenic]

Thats a good point 'buying' a child in terms of suragacy is illegal aswell in the UK

 

[vaniilla]

I also posted on another thread as a reply but I'll add my two cents here as well
like a pp I don't think it shouldn't be available on the NHS but I do think it should be available along with better understanding towards families/women and councelling, gender disappointment is a condition which many people dismiss, people need to realise that people that go through it suffer just as much as anyone that has a different condition be it a eating disorder, anxiety or a phobia, if you look back PND used to be looked at as a myth and women that were unhappy after giving birth were seen as selfish/seeking attention/making it up, I think if people are getting more help then they won't feel the need to get gender selection. I know that doesn't cover everyone that wants it but its a large majority

 

[Laura2919]

I dont know much about it but I believe that if you create a child it shouldnt matter what the sex. I was over the moon to learn I was having girls but I would have been happy to have boys because they are MY children. I love them regardless.
I also think its pretty much like buying a child.