Preconception sex selection demand and preferences in the United States

Abstract

Objective: Preconception sex selection for nonmedical reasons raises important moral, legal, and social issues. The main concern is based upon the assumption that a widely available service for sex selection will lead to a socially disruptive imbalance of the sexes. For a severe sex ratio distortion to occur, however, at least two conditions have to be met. First, there must be a significant preference for children of a particular sex, and second, there must be a considerable interest in employing sex selection technology. Our objective was to ascertain such demand and preferences among the United States general population. Design: Cross-sectional web-based survey. Setting: United States general population. Patient(s):One thousand one hundred ninety-seven men and women aged 18 to 45 years. Intervention(s): None. Main Outcome Measure(s): Web-based questionnaire assessing preferences for sex of children and demand for preconception sex selection for nonmedical reasons. Result(s):Eight percent of respondents would use preconception sex selection technology, 74% were opposed, and 18% were undecided. If the sex selection process was simplified to taking a pill, 18% would be willing to use such a medication, 59% were opposed, and 22% were undecided. In terms of gender choices, 39% of respondents would like their first child to be a son, 19% would like their first child to be a daughter, and 42% had no preference. Overall, 50% wished to have a family with an equal number of boys and girls, 7% with more boys than girls, 6% with more girls than boys, 5% with only boys, 4% with only girls, and 27% had no preference. Conclusion(s): Preconception sex selection technology via sperm separation is unlikely to be used by the majority of the United States population and is unlikely to have a significant impact on the natural sex ratio. (Fertil Steril 2006;85:468 -73.

Preimplantation sex selection demand and preferences among infertility patients in Midwestern United States

“…This is in contrast to the data collected from our recent web-based survey of 1,197 men and women aged 18-45 within the United States general population, where only 8% of respondents would use preconception sex selection technology for nonmedical reasons [20]. One possible explanation may be that infertile couples may see their next pregnancy as their last chance to have a child and would therefore like to have an option of choosing the sex.…”

“…As recently reported, based on a national survey, the general public in the United States is unlikely to make use of such technologies [20]. Infertile couples, however, may feel differently.…”

Examining Metaphors in Biopolitical Discourse

“…Eight percent said they would use sex selection technology, 74 percent were opposed, and 18 percent were undecided (Dahl, Gupta, Beutel, Stroebel-Richter, Brosig, Tinneberg & Jain 2006). But, looking at data supplied by US fertility clinics, about 42 percent of clinics responding to questions about PGD services provide non-medical sex selection to parents (Baruch, Kaufman & Hudson 2008).…”

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis for gender selection: You don’t always get what you want

“…However, there is significant interest in this non-medical application. Dahl found that 8% of respondents would use preconception sex selection services [12] and Jain et al found that 40.8% of women undergoing IVF would select the gender of their child if they could easily do so [13]. In contrast to preconception techniques for gender selection, such as sperm-sorting protocols, the issue of gender selection during cycles of assisted reproduction, and especially so in the absence of infertility or genetic disease, is additionally complicated by cost scale, alloca-tion of limited resources, and ethical considerations regarding the fate of supernumerary embryos, both of the preferred gender and otherwise.…”