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At the Genetics & IVF Institute (GIVF) in Virginia, where the technology of sperm sorting is trademarked as MicroSort® Sperm Separation, over 200 pregnancies were achieved as of August 2000 using the technique with IUI or IVF. Originally created for use in animal breeding, the technique was developed further for use in humans by GIVF, resulting in successful births of healthy children starting in the mid-1990's.
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) refers to several techniques used to evaluate the genetic material of embryos created through IVF prior to transferral into the uterus. PGD is generally more widely accepted as a means of determining the development and potential health status of an embryo, due perhaps to its more specific nature. With PGD, researchers are becoming more adept at finding specific, existing genetic problems in the preimplantation offspring of couples with cause for concern.
The difference is that PGD is used on already-created embryos, while sperm sorting techniques seek to create embryos that will not carry genetic anomalies in the first place.
For some, the whole issue of gender selection is too close to playing God, regardless of the reasons.
Those in the physically-challenged, or disabled, community bristle when they consider what their own fate may have been had the technology existed when they themselves were conceived.
People already concerned about the tragic fate of baby girls in some countries (for example, China, where government childbearing quotas prompt routine abandonment of female newborns) fear a more civil, medical route to gender selection only masks the real problem of gender-based bias.
Most people are, in general, aware that the use of such technologies may take our society into realms that we've not yet fully considered. Some countries are already ahead of the game by using entities with varying authority to proactively ponder, recommend, or rule on the questions at hand.
For now, at least one couple in Scotland is dealing with these larger issues in a very personal way.
© Tracy Morris
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