Family Balancing (sex Selection)
Sex selection
Human beings have been trying to influence the sex of their children for as long as anyone can remember. The techniques in the past were crude, based on superstition, and 50% of the time, unsuccessful. Recently, preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) has become the method of choice to influence the sex of a baby -- often referred to as gender or sex selection.
Basic Biology of sex Determination
The sex of a baby is determined at the moment of conception by the chromosomes present in the egg and sperm.
Human beings have two sex chromosomes: The X and Y chromosomes. Female eggs contain only X chromosomes but male sperm contains either an X chromosome or a Y chromosome.
An embryo is female if an X bearing sperm fertilizes the egg resulting in an XX embryo. A male will result if a Y bearing sperm fertilizes the egg resulting in an XY embryo.
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PGT for Sex selection
Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT), performed as part of an in vitro fertilization – IVF cycle, can be used to detect which embryos are XX or XY. The desired embryos can be selected and transferred in the hopes of achieving a successful pregnancy.
PGT is the only method for sex selection that is close to 100% accurate. Other methods for selection attempt to separate the X and Y bearing sperm. To date, none of these techniques has achieved a success rate greater than 75-80%.
