Cost of Gender Selection In Mexico in 2024

Choosing the gender of your child

To be able to decide in advance the sex of unborn children is a dream as old as the world.

For centuries, many people have tried to find a foolproof way to do this. Nutrition, position during lovemaking or the moment of conception were among the factors believed to influence the sex of unborn babies. The success of ancestral methods, however, has been mixed.

Today, thanks to advances in science, utopia may well become a reality.

Gender selection techniques

Different methods can be used to select the sex of future babies. So far, it seems that the three most popular are: selective abortion, pre-implantation diagnosis and sperm sorting.

While the first of these techniques can be used following natural conception, the other two methods only work in an AHR setting.

It is also possible to match an egg donation with a PGD for the choice of the baby's sex.

Preimplantation diagnosis and embryo sorting

In the context of in vitro fertilization, cells can be taken from embryos and analyzed to obtain various genetic data, including the sex of the embryos. Only embryos of the desired sex are then implanted in the mother's uterus. Unwanted embryos will be destroyed.

Sperm Sorting

This method, although not yet widely used, is attractive because it does not require embryo destruction or termination of pregnancy. Since sperm have only one sex chromosome, either X or Y, they can be identified and sorted so that only one of the two types of sperm is able to fertilise the egg (which is always labelled X).

If the egg is fertilised by a sperm X, the embryo will be female (XX), if it is fertilised by a sperm Y, a boy will be produced (XY). Of course, sorting is carried out in the context of assisted reproduction and requires very sophisticated devices, such as the MicroSort sorter. If needed, we can freeze multiple of your eggs for a future procedure. This method is not 100% reliable and is more effective when you want to give birth to a female child.

A question of ethics

The possibility of choosing the sex of fetuses raises many ethical debates. While the reasons given for selection are understandable, there are concerns about the plausible consequences of widespread diffusion of the technology.

Why choose the sex of one's child?

The main reason for sex selection of unborn babies at this time is medical. Some serious genetic diseases will only affect boys, such as hemophilia and muscular dystrophy. If one parent carries the gene for this disease, sex selection can be used to ensure the birth of a girl who, although potentially carrying the gene, will not develop the disease.

The other main argument in favour of sex selection is family balance. A couple who have given birth to only boys so far may long to have a daughter, and vice versa. Sex selection techniques could enable them to achieve their dream.

Most countries prohibit sex selection of children for non-medical purposes. However, in other countries there is no legislative framework restricting such practices. This is particularly the case in the Mexico.

Ethical abuses related to sex selection

While the use of sex selection techniques for medical reasons is understandable and even laudable, the widespread use of these procedures could have potentially serious consequences for societies.

In many countries around the world, the birth of a boy is valued much more highly than the birth of a girl, whether for financial or religious reasons. Should sex selection become widespread, there could be a dramatic drop in the number of female babies in these countries, which would have a painful effect on the balance of society.

Furthermore, sex selection for non-medical purposes could open the door to other abuses. Eventually, it might become possible to select a significant number of genetic characteristics and thus create tailor-made, improved children.

Science could thus enable us to create generations of superhumans. While this idea may appear attractive in some respects, it remains very dangerous and unnatural. This is why several researchers working in the medical field are choosing to remain cautious on this issue and are campaigning for a framework for assisted procreation practices rather than their liberalisation.