Advancements in science and technology has given rise to opportunities to change people’s lives in a number of ways. One of the most beneficial advancements now is being able to select the sex of your child for medical or non-medical use. There are a number of reasons for why parents choose sex selection. The problem is that sex selection has become a controversial issue. Parents should be permitted to choose the sex of their baby because of medical reasons, family balancing issues, and the possibility of abortion rates being lowered.
Medical use is a common reason for why people want to be able to choose the sex of their baby. X-linked disorders are usually passed down to boys from the X chromosome they get from their mothers, which are carriers
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Elective sex selection seems to be a little bit more controversial than sex selection for medical use (“Gender Selection of Babies”). The parents select the sex of their baby that they prefer to have for different reasons. One reason being that parents might have planned one raising a boy or girl. Another reason being for family balancing issues (“Gender Selection of Babies”). Without sex selection as an option parents have to keep trying to have babies to get the desired gender they want. In the long run, parents could end up having only boys or girls in the family. Supporters of sex selection argue that parents should have the freedom to choose the sex of their child. Parents who choose elective sex selection should have the right to control their family. Overall elective sex selection is less problematic for parents who have to keep trying (“Gender Selection of Babies”).
If we socially accepted sex selection more, we could possibly see abortion rates decrease (Sam Lawrence). Sam Lawrence says “Currently, doctors report an increase in the number of parents opting for abortion after discovering the sex of their baby.” Which comes to show that some parents abort their child because the baby is not the sex they desire. If sex selection was accepted more parents wouldn’t have to keep trying, or aborting a child, because it is not the sex they
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The process is done by using In Vitro Fertilization, or IVF, and Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis, or PGD (Center for Human Reproduction). The embryo is conceived outside of the body, where it can be controlled. The cells of the embryo start to divide, and once it reaches six to eight cells one of the cells will be removed. The chromosomes of the embryo are analyzed, which allows the doctor to determine the sex. The embryo with the desired sex is implanted back into the uterus where the baby will grow. Removal of one of the cells does not harm the embryo to grow effectively (Center for Human
Many parents do in fact have desires related to their children that with sex selection could come to fruition, however using a child solely as an end seems unreasonable . Savulescu argues that if parents “love their child as an end itself” that any other desires, such as a father wanting a male child because he loves boys that play sports, that sex selection could facilitate would do no harm since it is ok for some of the “means” of having a child to be fulfilled.
Sex-linked disorders only affect males and are passed down through female carriers. A boy inherits the disorder when he receives an X chromosome with a mutated dystrophin gene (the genetic cause) from his mother. The dystrophin gene is the largest gene found in nature and was identified through a positional cloning approach. It's a highly complex gene, a large rod-like cytoskeletal protein which is found at the inner surface of muscle fibers. (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
A recent Court of Appeal ruling looked at preimplantation and IVF selection and how it was possibly going to be prohibited in the UK. Therefore, there are many factors that need to be discussed to whether or not it should be outlaw...
Dena Davis in the 5th chapter of “Genetic Dilemmas: Reproductive Technology, Parental Choices, and Children’s Futures” explores the global attitudes, policies, and morality towards determination of sex. She begins with presenting empirical evidence of some preferences held in countries such as India or China where there is a clear desire for male children. This inclination is so deeply held that mothers can be socially and physically harmed when, by pure biological chance, they fail to produce a male child. Davis and others allow sex selection in these cases, purely in the interest of harm reduction of mothers and their daughters born into such a situation. This example is contrasted with so-called “western” societies, where the preference
Genetic disorders can be caused by many of the 46 chromosomes in human cells. This specific disorder is linked to a mutation in the long arm of the X, or 23rd chromosome. The mutation is recessive, meaning a normal X chromosome can hide it. Females have two X chromosomes allowing them to hide the mutated recessive one, making them a carrier of the gene, while males only have one X chromosome, meaning that they are unable to hide the mutation and they become effected by the disease. Therefore if a male carries the gene, he is affected because he has no way of dominating the recessive gene, but if a female carries it, she is only a carrier and has a 50/50 chance of passing it on to her baby. This may seem like a high probability however, only one in every fifty thousand male births will have this immunodeficiency disease.
The addition of a child into a family’s home is a happy occasion. Unfortunately, some families are unable to have a child due to unforeseen problems, and they must pursue other means than natural pregnancy. Some couples adopt and other couples follow a different path; they utilize in vitro fertilization or surrogate motherhood. The process is complicated, unreliable, but ultimately can give the parents the gift of a child they otherwise could not have had. At the same time, as the process becomes more and more advanced and scientists are able to predict the outcome of the technique, the choice of what child is born is placed in the hands of the parents. Instead of waiting to see if the child had the mother’s eyes, the father’s hair or Grandma’s heart problem, the parents and doctors can select the best eggs and the best sperm to create the perfect child. Many see the rise of in vitro fertilization as the second coming of the Eugenics movement of the 19th and early 20th century. A process that is able to bring joy to so many parents is also seen as deciding who is able to reproduce and what child is worthy of birthing.
Two of the most popular technologies used today for sex selection are, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) (Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, 2015). IVF involves combining the egg cells and the sperm cells outside the uterus. Once fertilized, the egg is then implanted back into the women’s uterus or stored for future use.
A gynaecologist can easily perform an ultrasound and tell parents what gender to expect their child to be. Reasonably, parents have the choice to learn the gender or to keep it a surprise. However, For parents to know they are expecting a daughter by chance or for them to choose that they want a daughter are two different cases. There are a variety of methods that allow parents to choose the gender of their child. In some cases, there may be fear of passing down a sex-linked genetic disease and so a certain gender may be preferred to protect the child’s health. However, a contentious issue is whether or not gender selection for non-medical reasons is ethically defensible. There are three positions that one could take: gender selection can never, sometimes, or always be ethically defended. In this paper, I intend to argue that gender selection is always permissible.
The constantly growing field of medical technology has raised many questions especially pertaining to ethics. The mapping of the human genome, cloning technologies, stem cell research, and of course reproductive technology has caused some very real dilemmas over the role of the human decision in the creation and orientation of new life. Humans are able to accomplish amazing things in science, but at what cost? The ubiquitous nature of reproductive technology has caused a new discipline of reproductive ethics. One such dilemma is that of selective abortion due to sex preference. In this paper I will discuss the ethics of gendercide and sonography’s affect on this practice
There are variables that could affect her choice. She could be poor, the child could have a birth defect, and so on. Giving her a right to decide whether she should abort the baby, it’s entirely her choice. What if the mother was raped or she got pregnant from incest? Would you traumatise this mother with the child of the rapist for 9 months, and would you allow an inbred child that will most likely have a disability and be put through literal hell?
In Passage 1 of A Book Of Myths by Jean Lang, Pandora is portrayed as very sweet, curious, and naive. Throughout the passage, Pandora has been curious since she set foot on Earth. She thought the world was all good, but it was not until she knew the gods had placed a box in the hands of Epimetheus which held all evils. She is naive and thinks that since the gods would do no bad, why would this box be different? In Passage 2 The Masque Of Pandora by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Pandora is portrayed as guilty, worried, and scared due to her actions of opening the box.
As a young adult, it may seem foolish to predict what your future family life will look like, especially in regards to children. Often times this reality is forced upon a select few, particularly homosexual couples; however, with the innovation of in vitro fertilization (IVF), a couple is met with promise and the hope of a successful family life. IVF can be described as a process by which a fetus is genetically formed in a laboratory setting. Though this process may seem unnatural in essence, it allows for a more diverse family arrangement through medical innovation. This procedure, though controversial, is seen by many as an advancement in the medical field and can be accredited to procuring a healthy child for an unfortunate family, whether
"Reproductive Technologies." Bioethics for Students: How Do We Know What’s Right?, edited by Steven G. Post, vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 1999. Opposing Viewpoints in
Determining whether to divulge the gender of a child should be a personal choice. Society should not dictate whether one chooses to disclose the sex of their child. At conception, the gender is determined by chromosome characteristics and it will be the male (male semen) that dictates whether the baby will be a boy or girl. Nowhere in any literature that has been read or published that it states that “society” is the determining factor whether a girl or boy will be conceived. Society suggests that knowing the gender is routine, but what may be considered routine for some is not necessarily customary for all. If one chooses to stray away from what is considered to be “normal” it poses or present an issue. Individuals are instantaneously met with opposition or back lash due to nondisclosure of the sex of their child whether it is unborn or born. A typical argument would be as to what color clothing to bring for the unborn or born child, should one bring pink or blu...
Figure 1: a Punnet square showing that there is an equal opportunity for a foetus to develop into either a male or female. It also shows how the male gamete determines the foetus sex by combining the X chromosome with either an X or Y chromosome.