Transcultural Issues in Gender Selection

Gender selection, also known as family balancing, is an attempt to select the sex of an embryo. This is done as part of preimplantation genetic testing during in vitro fertilization after a woman's eggs are fertilized but before the embryos are transferred into her uterus. Testing starts around $4,000, according to the Reproductive Health Technologies Project. Reasons why would-be parents pursue gender selection vary, as do cultural and religious perspectives on the method.

Religious Views

• Different faiths take various positions on gender selection.

  Procreating at least one boy and one girl is desired under Jewish law, but at least one boy is mandatory and gender selection is considered acceptable, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, which published a report from Hebrew University Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. The report also says the Catholic Church opposes gender selection, even if it's for medical reasons such as sex-linked genetic diseases. In Islam, Shi'ites and some Sunnis would permit gender selection but other Sunnis wouldn't, according to the Arab Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology Societies.

The Male Factor

• Boys are preferred in some cultures.

  Preferences for sons is most common in China and in other parts of Asia; the preference is stronger when a one-child policy is enforced. Some religious traditions there state a firstborn son performing specific rituals at his parents' funeral can assure the parents go to heaven. There's also a negative stigma in India attached to having a daughter, but gender selection for non-medical reasons is unlawful in India, according to the World Health Organization. Social preferences for boys over girls are common, and some cases of female infanticide have occurred in nations such as China, which raises questions about sexism and female status, the American Journal of Bioethics states.

Professional Opinions

• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics support gender selection through preimplantation genetic diagnosis if it's to prevent hemophilia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Turner's syndrome, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome or other sex-linked genetic conditions. They discourage gender selection for personal reasons because of potential beliefs that one gender is more valuable than the other. These groups also discourage gender-selective abortion following a prenatal ultrasound to determine a fetus' sex.

  The American Society for Reproductive Medicine's ethics committee cautions against sex selection if no sex-linked disease is expected. But doctors who are members of ASRM may offer gender selection to patients for family balancing purposes. The American Journal of Bioethics says counseling should be done in advance for parents opting for gender selection in case they get a baby of the undesired gender.

Why Westerners Do Gender Selection

• Patients seek family balancing to have a baby of a different sex than their first child or previous children. Others have a preference for a specific gender for a first child. Those doing gender selection for a first child may want a boy or girl based on personal experiences. For example, a mother could want a daughter because of a closeness she thinks she'll share or the desire to give the child what she did not have while growing up.