Overhaul of fertility laws - Choosing a baby's sex

[Loosehead]

In a recent sky news poll on their web site 83% said no. I do not think parants should be able to choose the sex of their baby, under any circumstances what do you think?

[milly143]

Nobody should be able to chose something like the sex of their child. Nature is nature and we shouldnt start messing with it in this way. I personally think its asking for trouble.

[Oneeyedvic]

"nature is nature"....

so should we stop looking for a cure for cancer?

 

My wife chose the sex of her children, the hair colour and eye colour. Its called adoption and happens everyday.

 

I personally don't see a reason against choosing the sex of a child. We mess with nature everyday from construction of plastics to driving our cars. The majority of illnesses can be cured now.

 

In previous centuries, I am guessing that the life expectancy was less than 50 years. Is it therefore natural to assume that humans shouldn't live longer than that?

 

This is not India or China where dowerys (sp?) are paid for brides, and we don't need lots of men to help work the fields. I can see no reason for wanting to choose the sex, but I can also so no reason against it 

[jenstar]

No, I don't think they should be able to choose the sex of their baby. But given mankind's propensity to do the wrong thing, I think it's pretty much inevitable that sex-selection will be commonplace within the next fifty years.

[boobesque]

i think that in some cases it is acceptable, my cousin has problems with carrying boys, due to a genetic disorder and with help of a geneticist in london has been able to have two girls.

In rare cases like this it is not a problem. If it comes down to wanting a boy or girl it then becomes unethical.

[milly143]

maybe i should have phrased that a little better. Of course we should not stop trying to find a cure for cancer and reading boobesques post, then I agree in some cases selection should be considered. However finding a cure for cancer and other illnesses are beneficial to an individuals health and entire life. Choosing the sex of your baby because you really want a boy/girl is unacceptable. Surely if you want a child you should be more concerned that you have a happy healthy child, whatever sex and not worried about whether a boy/girl will fit in to your lifestyle. Its just my opinion but I don't think people should have the right to chose, just because they want a certain sex.

[pedant]

One only has to look at the gender imbalance of the young adult population in China to understand the potential problems with this.
Personally I don't have a problem with choosing the gender of one's child, save for 2 issues. Firstly, I can see very few circumstances where people can justify, on an ethical basis, a desire to exercise such control over their own and their offspring�s lives. Parenthood should not be about preference and prejudice, but about unconditional love.
The second issue is one of process. If we allow people to choose the sex of their baby as a matter of course then I would suggest that we have broken down the barriers of sense that would enable society to prevent more trivial in vitro procedures such as choosing hair colour, athletic ability, propensity to body hair or size of genitals!
I think people would do well to read Larkin's 'This Be The Verse' before making a decision on this. Giving parents the additional ability could be very destructive. How do you regulate against choices governed by fashion, commercial opportunism or simply inappropriate ones (and who makes the call).
Additionally by taking a process that is almost uncontrollable in any sensible democracy and enabling Government to become involved is inherently risky. I think it unlikely that we'll end up in a Huxleyesque 'Brave New World' but any process would need some form of regulation and this would have to be unbelievably carefully legislated for to avoid even a whiff of Eugenics.

[MargeB]

It would certainly feel pretty strange to be told during your lifetime that you are a boy or girl because your parents had specifically chosen that.

Mind you, had your parents chosen not to have sex, you wouldn't exist. Go figure that one out.

I feel a 'thin edge of the wedge' post coming on (with 'Brave New World') mentioned somewhere.

There must be some philosophical principle somewhere that predicts how these things pan out...it seems that one taboo after another just keeps getting knocked down. Once you have the idea of 'childless couples' or 'hereditary defect' on your side, you can get away with anything.

Society would have choked at this idea 30 years ago, what will we be seeing in 30 years time? Designer babies on the internet? I can't see why not. I'm not making a value judgement here, it's just the way I see things going.

[OBonio]

When my daughter is older she will invariably want a horse. Hopefully the technology will be available for my wife to drink some horse semen, wait x* months and hey presto. Will save me a lot of money which could be put towards stable costs.

Seriously though, I disagree. It'll happen anyway, but it is so obviously wrong. On the other hand, would have saved a fair few baby's lives in China.....

* x = gestation period of a horse

[nedflanders]

This sounds far fetched and like something from a crap sci fi film but how long will it be before some maniac starts to clone/genetically select or  breed soldiers or suicide bombers to be the biggest strongest most physically adapt human beings on earth?  Can you imagine if Hitler had the technology?  Sounds far fetched but is it ?  Where do you draw the line? I know if either of my daughter's was dying through a curable disease I couldn't just let it happen so it's a very difficult one to answer.

[georgit79]

It's an important leap in scientific discovery, for the reasons boobesque has mentioned. Having a child of the 'right' sex can be very important in some cases, but I maintain that it is abominable if it just comes down to choosing whether to have a boy, or a girl. Sorry if I'm repeating what others have already said, just wanted to add my tuppence worth.

[newtron]

First of all, if the responses on this thread are any indication, if parents could choose the sex of their baby, many would not do so.  Personally, if choosing the sex of the baby is all we are talking about, I don't see any problems with it.  People who think it is wrong will not do it and people who want to choose can.  My wife and I would probably not choose, but I don't think it is wrong to do so.  However, as pedant pointed out, where does this process end? 

[jno]

I believe the Chinese do something along these lines - by aborting girls - leading to a sexual imbalance: far too many males. Though I can't think of any coherent ethical objection, this still seems an undesirable outcome. Could it happen in the west too?

Oneyedvic I don't think this applies to adoption, which in effect involves reassigning babies already born, thus not affecting the overall gender balance. But perhaps boy babies are more/less likely to be adopted?

[morg_monster]

If they ever implement sex selection, then they have said that (apart from genetic disorders) it will only be possible to use it to 'balance out' a family, for example, if a family had 3 boys and they wanted a girl, then that would be OK.  If a young couple desperately just wanted a son, they wouldn't be able to use this technology.  Hence, no gender imbalances.

I wouldn't do it, but I don't see anything wrong with this particular use of the technology.  HOwever it is obviously a slippery slope...

Oh and Oneeyedvic - I see your argument - but out of interest, did your wife actually choose her adopted children on the basis of their eye and hair colour ?!

[Oneeyedvic]

morg - she had a form to fill in - there was at the time (27 years ago) a form. You requested age (both new born), hair colour (both blond) eye colour (both blue) sex (eldest male, younger female) etc

I am unsure as to the system has changed or not, but point was she requested a boy and a girl in that order.