Sex selection

01:53 17th April 2016 | Sex Selection

Baby's Gender Embryo Gender Selection Elective Gender Selection PGD IVF

Sex selection is the deliberate determination of a baby’s gender at embryo stage and transplanting only the desired embryo(s) into the uterus. Advances in the ability to genetically assess embryos before transfer into the uterus aided the high degree of precision this practice enjoys. The main reason for gender selection is for family balancing. Gender selection could be used to prevent a genetic disease from being passed on from one generation to another or just as a way of having what people refer to as gender-balanced family.

When sex selection is done to prevent transfer of genetic diseases from mother to child, the process is called medical gender selection. Some genetic diseases are more severely expressed in one gender than the other and parents who are carriers of these genetic disorders may choose to have babies of the gender associated with a less severe form of the disease. The X-linked genetic disorders like the red-green color blindness,hemophilia A and B, Duchenne and Becker’s muscular dystrophy etc. are a few examples of inherited genetic disorders that only affect male. Parents who are carriers of these diseases, who want to reduce the risk of having children affected by these diseases, may choose to have female babies.

Non-medical or elective gender selection is determination of the sex of the child for purely social reasons devoid of any obvious medical indications .The most common reason for non-medical gender selection is family balancing when one gender may already be represented in the family unit and the other gender would be preferred. Many years ago, sperm sorting and microsort were the two most widely used techniques for sex selection but Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)with IVF,has come to be the preferred procedure worldwide because of its higher degree of certainty.

It is impossible to underestimate the value of PGD, both in the prevention of genetically transferred diseases and to alleviate marital distress through elective gender selection. Whatever your reasons for going for sex selection, The Bridge Clinic will be happy to discuss with you. You may please call us on 01 631 0092 or emailenquiries@thebridgeclinic.com