Saturday, Jul 19, 2008
How ethical is it to choose the sex of your baby, and what does it mean for the future of the human race?
Sep 15, 1998 | When I was 4, my mom announced that she was pregnant. I was ecstatic -- finally I'd have the little brother I'd always wanted. There was no doubt in my child-mind that the baby would be a boy. My parents already had a girl, so why would they need another one? I just assumed they would ask the baby gods for a boy and be granted their wish.
Needless to say, when my sister was born, I was devastated. I had been replaced by a gurgling bundle of joy who, by all accounts, had the rosy cheeks and ringlets of an earthbound angel. I couldn't hack the competition. I packed my suitcase and tearily headed out the door, a self-proclaimed orphan.
I eventually got over my replacement complex and learned to love my little sister. A natural selection was made and now I can't imagine life without her. But for those older siblings -- and parents-to-be -- who want to challenge nature, a formidable weapon is at hand. Last week, doctors at the Genetics & IVF Institute in Fairfax, Va., led by Dr. Edward Fugger, announced that they can sort sperm in such a way that will allow couples to choose the sex of their babies. But how ethical is gender selection, and is it safe?
Couples who entered the trial either wanted to prevent sex-linked disorders or simply wanted to do a little gender balancing within the family. In fact, 90.5 percent of the study's participants had already given birth to two or three sons and wanted their final child to be a daughter.
Using a process called flow cytometric separation -- branded MicroSort -- doctors were able to increase the number of X-chromosomes (female) in any given sorted sperm sample to 85 percent, vs. the approximately 50 percent contained in a normal sperm specimen. That means that couples who use a sorted sperm sample are five to six times more likely to have a female child than a male child. A total of 29 pregnancies by intrauterine insemination (IUI), in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) resulted during the trial. Of the 14 pregnancies in which the gender of the fetus or child has been determined, 13 are female. That's a 92.9 percent success rate. The Amazon women's lost civilization has a chance at resurrection yet.
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