What is "family balancing"?

What do you do if your children are all of the same gender (e.g. female) and you want one of the other gender (e.g. male)?   What you are seeking to do is called "family balancing." You could use a "natural" method, which includes adjusting your diet, monitoring vaginal temperature, secretions, and the calendar for correct timing of intercourse, and special vaginal douches to adjust the pH.   Or you could use more advanced technologies.  But do these technologies, or even sex selection itself, pose ethical and moral dilemmas?

For the technological route, you could go to an IVF clinic and allow them to do sperm sorting, which is basically getting a sperm sample, and then centrifuging the sperm through a medium which allows the heavier sperm (with the X chromosome) to go further than the lighter ones (Y chromosome).  Then you pull out the band you are interested in, and inseminate.  Voila, $4K later, an almost 100% chance you get the gender of choice.

What's interesting about this is that it has fewer ethical and moral ramifications than either sex-selection abortion, infanticide, or even IVF, since no embryos are created and unused (which I still think is fine, see c-ral.org).  But there is one ethical dilemma left.  What if a country like India or China uses this to prefer males, and they create a gender imbalance, which can cause social problems.

We are right to oppose sex-selection abortion.  And some think it right to oppose the embryo destruction that accompanies IVF.  But what about when no embryos or fetuses are destroyed, but you end up creating gender imbalances?

I don't think we should oppose this technology or it's use, and since there is no immediate death involved, it seems benign.  At best, it should probably be left alone as not a significant moral issue. What say ye?

Comments

[Lawanda]

I say that sex selection of any type is ridiculous and selfish. I have four girls. And I am very happy with that.

I read the book "How To Determine The Sex Of Your Baby" (was that the title? I think..but it could be wrong...)

And it was hogwash. I did some of the "natural" stuff to try for a boy, and still got me a girl.

Personally, I think children are a gift and as the old saying goes "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" (which means accept your gift for what it is, basically) ;)

That is my hillbillie point of view ;)

[Stephen]

Well we have 4 girls as well but my wife would pay just about anything for a have her own baby boy. Yes we are Christian, but no not Hillbilly