Choosing your baby's sex

Of course, when I saw the title of this story, I had to find out more. Is there really a sure fire way to choose the sex of your baby? Of course! The problem is, you can't do it without creating other embryos you know you will never use. :( Bummer! Personally, I just don't like that idea. I am happy, overwhelmed and broke with my three boys. Still, I do have people ask me if there's a way to choose your baby's sex. Some couples are doing it and according to the doctor in this article, it will become more common. What do you think? Is it unethical?

FROM NBC: SOME PEOPLE DREAM OF HAVING A BABY GIRL OR A BOY. IT USED TO BE THOSE MATTERS WERE LEFT TO CHANCE. BUT NOT ANYMORE. TODAY MORE PEOPLE ARE CHOOSING THE SEX OF THEIR CHILD, A PRACTICE THAT'S RAISING SOME EYEBROWS.

THE JOHNSON HOUSE IS FULL OF TESTOSTERONE. FOUR BOYS!
FOUR MONTHS AGO THE "ALL MALE" STREAK WAS BROKEN. BABY AVA ARRIVED, BUT NOT BY CHANCE. NOLANA JOHNSON, MOTHER "We wanted a girl and we did what we had to do to have a daughter".

THE JOHNSONS CHOSE "GENDER SELECTION", NOLANA SAYS SHE WENT TO THE ONLY FERTILITY CLINIC IN TEXAS THAT OFFERS IT, THE SHER INSTITUTE IN DALLAS.
DR. WALID SALEH, SHER INSTITUTE "I have had hundreds of cycles and haven't had one give us the wrong gender"

DOCTOR WALID SALEH COULD ALMOST GUARANTEE THEM A GIRL. THROUGH IN VITRO FERTILIZATION, EGG CELLS ARE FERTILIZED BY SPERM IN A LAB.

(REPORTER STANDUP: MEREDITH LAND:42-:52)
"After three days of growth in this incubator, the embryos are taken out. They are then biopsied and at that point doctors can tell how many girl and how many boy embryos they have."

"COMPARATIVE GENOMIC HYBRIDIZATION" OR "CGH" TESTS ALL 23 CHROMOSOMES IN THE D-N-A. HEREDITARY DISORDERS, BIRTH DEFECTS AND YES, GENDER CAN ALL BE REVEALED ALLOWING THE MOTHER TO PICK WHICH EMBRYO OR EMBRYOS TO TRANSFER BACK INTO HER BODY.

NOLANA JOHNSON, MOTHER"When they called us that morning, they said, 'you have 4 girls and 2 boys.' I was very excited about that." NOLANA SAYS DOCTORS TRANSFERRED THREE GIRL EMBRYOS.

NOLANA JOHNSON, MOTHER )
"One took, and that was miss Ava" DR SALEH SAYS MORE OF HIS PATIENTS WANT TO SELECT THE SEX OF THEIR CHILD, NOW 20 PERCENT OF I-V-F CYCLES IN HIS PRACTICE. COUPLES PAY BETWEEN 10 AND 15,000 DOLLARS.

TOM MAYO, SMU ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ETHICS "Science is out ahead of ethics and law all the time" TOM MAYO, THE DIRECTOR OF THE MAGUIRE CENTER FOR ETHICS AND PUBLIC RESPONSIBILITY AT S-M-U QUESTIONS THE PRACTICE .

Q: "ETHICALLY SPEAKING, IS THIS OKAY?"

TOM MAYO, SMU ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ETHICS "I think that the consensus is that it is potentially problematic, that it does raise serious ethical issues, but the balance so far favors autonomy on the part of the parents in making reproductive decisions that work for them"

MAYO SAYS TIME OFTEN CHANGES MINDS.

TOM MAYO, SMU ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ETHICS "The technology will move even further, the numbers will increase. Our comfort level will probably increase over time and we'll move on to other issues" TO PEOPLE WHO DISAGREE WITH HIS PRACTICE, DR SALEH SAYS THIS;

DR. WALID SALEH, SHER INSTITUTE "Number one: I don't make those babies. The miracle of life is the same. They are boys or girls on their own. The only thing we are doing is freezing the boys and transferring the girls or vice versa." DR SALEH SAYS HE DENIES PEOPLE WHO WANT A BOY OR A GIRL FOR CULTURAL REASONS. HIS RULE: YOU MUST ALREADY HAVE AT LEAST ONE CHILD AT HOME, YOU CAN THEN SELECT THE OPPOSITE SEX. HE CALLS IT "FAMILY BALANCING".

DR. WALID SALEH, SHER INSTITUTE "Through rebalancing, you maintain the 50-50 ratio between men and women and i really think that's what's important for society"

NOLANA JOHNSON ISN'T JUST A MOM. SHE'S A NURSE. SHE SAYS "CHOOSING" TO HAVE THIS LITTLE GIRL WAS A THOUGHTFUL PROCESS. NOLANA JOHNSON, MOTHER:
"I believe in god and I believe in science and I think they work together. I can't imagine anyone looking at Ava and saying, 'This is bad, you shouldn't have done this".

NOLANA HOPES THAT BY TALKING ABOUT IT SHE ISN'T JUDGED, BUT CAN HELP OTHER FAMILIES, YEARNING FOR THAT GIRL OR THAT BOY.
"If we can help another family, I want to help another family. This is amazing."

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

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