Parents choose gender selection for family balancing or medical reasons
Today, parents-to-be who are hoping for a little boy or girl can choose a proven option to achieve their goal. Gender selection combines two state-of-the-art technologies—PGS and IVF. This method is virtually 100% effective, which is why it is the protocol we use at our Virginia fertility center.
In the past, people often relied on myths about gender selection or other less reliable medical interventions such as sperm sorting. Before the technology became available to efficiently perform PGS with IVF, sperm sorting was offered as an option. It is not currently performed by reputable fertility centers in the United States.
Why is PGS so effective for gender selection?
PGS, or preimplantation genetic screening, allows our highly trained IVF lab staff to select and transfer only the embryos of the desired sex that are genetically healthy. Here’s how it works:
- During this process, you will go through the steps of the IVF treatment cycle, including having your eggs or those of your egg donor fertilized with sperm.
- Cells from your embryos are then screened using PGS, a genetic screening procedure that allows us to determine which of your embryos are male (X and a Y chromosome), or female (two X chromosomes).
- Our embryologist will identify and select only the embryo that is 1) the desired sex and 2) chromosomally balanced.
Medical gender selection can help prevent sex-linked genetic disorders
Accurate gender selection is an important advance for parents-to-be who are concerned that their child may inherit a gender-linked genetic disorder through the X or Y chromosomes. These disorders are the result of genetic deviations that occur in these chromosomes.
For example, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and hemophilia are sex-linked disorders associated with recessive genes on the X chromosome. Some people may wish to pursue gender selection to have a female child who will not be at risk. There are also several sex-linked disorders, such as Turner Syndrome, that primarily affect females.
Fortunately, PGS tells us a lot about the health of the embryo, not just verification of the sex of the baby. Today, gender selection is an ancillary benefit of PGS.
Our Virginia fertility center provides state-of-the-art treatment
Family balancing is a personal decision made for a variety of reasons. Dr. Fady Sharara, our experienced and knowledgeable reproductive endocrinologist and our Virginia fertility center staff will be here for you during every step of the process, from our first meeting until your gender selection is complete.
If you’re looking for technological excellence in a warm, boutique setting from a nationwide leader in infertility treatment, contact us.
¹ http://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/2014/10/ecas3-1410.html
