Preconceptional sex selection

In their excellent article on assisted reproductive technologies,¹ one controversial area that Laura Shanner and Jeffrey Nisker did not discuss is the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis or sperm sorting for preconceptional gender selection for family balancing.

Some people are worried that the use of these technologies for preconceptional gender selection may affect the sex ratio in countries like India where most families want to have boys. I feel that couples should be free to select the sex of their babies. We have been offering preimplantation genetic diagnosis for sex selection for family balancing in our clinic in India since April 1999 and have treated 28 patients. Thirteen of these patients have conceived, and 8 have given birth so far. I believe that if we allow people to choose how many babies to have and when to have them and even to terminate pregnancies if they wish, then we should allow them to select the sex of their child if they wish.

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Aniruddha Malpani
Physician Malpani Infertility Clinic Bombay, India