Would you choose your child's gender?

So would you?
Im guessing that a lot of people would and im guessing that those that did, the majority would choose male.
I wonder how long it would take humans to upset the balance of nature that somehow gives the human race a pretty good ratio of males to females throughout the world, usually within a few percentage points.
And people used to think it was cheating to KNOW what you were having before you had it, now you can actually CHOOSE what youre having before you have it.

Source

Genetic screening techniques that allow parents to choose their children's gender are now more accurate than ever and are becoming increasingly mainstream, but experts are divided over whether the technology should be used in this way. A technique called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) was originally developed two decades ago to allow embryos to be tested for genetic disease. It requires parents to use in vitro fertilization, where eggs are fertilized outside the womb. With PGD, the embryos are tested for genetic disorders and only those that are free of disease are transferred to the mother's uterus. It means that parents who carry genetic defects can ensure they don't pass on a genetic illness to their children. But PGD also can also be used to allow people undergoing in-vitro fertilization to select the gender of the embryo implanted in the mother's uterus.

There's no way I would. I have six kids, 4 girls and 2 boys. If me and my wife decided to choose what gender we wanted we would of ended up with 3 girls and 3 boys. Sounds good but it takes away the amazing factor of why and how we got them. I guess it's alright if you just want 2 kids and you choose boy & girl. I just love that moment when the little alien looking baby comes out for the first time and that's when you find out what gender they are. So no for me.

Nope!! No way, no how, and nobody else should either!

What a mess we could create!! Just imagine how nature might react to our fiddling, and what kind of transgender and asexual babies nature would throw at us in response to our interference. Imagine if kids started changing sex during puberty to account for an imbalance in nature! If humans mimic what occurs in frogs and fish and other species (most evolutionists think we have those genes in our background) then any imbalance we create would be countered by an evolutionary shift and we could see children switching sexes, we could see virgin births, we would certainly see more sexual crimes and discrimination. Religions would have to adjust and we would begin seeing more polygamy or the dissolution of marriage altogether.

All of this is the worst case scenario of course, and each family would surely have their own valid reasons for making their choices, but overall the effect would be devastating!

No i wouldn't personally, but i don't see the problem with other people doing so if they wish. It really doesn't effect anyone except the couple choosing so i don't see what the problem is exactly, the whole messing with nature argument doesn't cut it as we have been doing so for a long time...and some could argue that using our natural intelligence to create tools and technology means everything we create or do is still perfectly natural. Then again im not someone who wants kids so i will never have to make the decision, if my mind miraculously changes which is doubtful i will be adopting so i still don't need to make the decision

Originally posted by Kr0n0s

I wonder how long it would take humans to upset the balance of nature that somehow gives the human race a pretty good ratio of males to females

Two words: normal distribution.

A few other words: You are obviously biased to your own question as it seems to be an axiom that humans will upset the balance you speak of.

To tell you the truth I was lucky I have two children and they happen to be a boy and a girl.

If I had the choice to chose their gender I would have done the same thing two children boy and girl.

Personally that is the perfect number and gender.

My sister in law had to make sure she had girls...
there's a Hemophilia history in her husbands family that's the disorder where even a minor cut could make you bleed out... anyway only boys can get Hemophilia. girls can only carry that... I bet here plenty of other illnesses where gender is more than personal choice...

reply to post by RestingInPieces


Yes, i know and what i meant and should have elaborated on is that strict regulation should and probably would be placed to prevent an imbalance to occur.
I mean how would it be if in 30 or so years there is a 10 males for every one female?
The competition for a mate would be crazy, women would be selling eggs, or themselves on Ebay lol

This is something thats already going on in some Asian countries, particularly China where they have a one child per household policy, just not in the same way.
If a child is found to be a female, via ultra-sound or whatever, its either aborted or in some extreme cases, killed at birth, in hopes that a male will be conceived next time.

And someone else already mentioned the possible consequences at the DNA or Genetic level.
And to the people that are saying that there would be no consequences at that level, I say, how the hell do you know that?

And on a personal note, I wouldnt do it "now" because I already have one boy and one girl, 4 years apart with the boy being the oldest.
That was the setup I wanted before I even got married, so it turned out perfect.

To tell you the truth I was lucky I have two children and they happen to be a boy and a girl. If I had the choice to chose their gender I would have done the same thing two children boy and girl. Personally that is the perfect number and gender.

Exactly marge, i made the above statement before even reading yours and I couldnt agree more.

[edit on 12/8/2009 by Kr0n0s]

Originally posted by Kr0n0s
So would you?

Yes. I would.

Im guessing that a lot of people would and im guessing that those that did, the majority would choose male.

I can't imagine why you think more would choose male. I would choose female.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
Nope!! No way, no how, and nobody else should either!

Ah... the epitome of making a choice while taking that same choice away from everyone else!

Just imagine how nature might react to our fiddling, and what kind of transgender and asexual babies nature would throw at us in response to our interference.

Oh, Lord!

My wife and I, well more her than I, went through ALOT of infertility issues. At one point, during the treatments, we were even given the choice of being able to chose the sex of our child. We chose not to simply because in our eyes any child to us, is a sheer miracle and we would love the baby no matter what sex it was. Now we have 2 girls and a boy. The boy ended up being a suprise. We now have a running joke that we bought two and got one free..

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

Ah... the epitome of making a choice while taking that same choice away from everyone else!

Ah ha, but I don't see it as a choice at all? Whether or not to have kids is a choice, but tailored engineering of this kids is not a choice.

As for the "Oh Lord" comment, the issues I raised are already apparent in nature. It is a logical conclusion that if an "imbalance" occured in the ratio of humans, that similar adjustments would happen by nature.

Plus......engineering children will only be available for the rich or elite, so there never really was a "choice" for the common person. Now, after several generations of engineered babies, suppose nature strikes back with an "adjustment", but it only affects the poor people that cannot afford the engineered version?!?

In that scenario, you have the elite engineering their children for specific traits, and the poor people on the receiving end of nature's wrathful response! That "class barrier" is one that no amount of affirmative action will ever be able to fix!!

[edit on 8-12-2009 by getreadyalready]

I could see this being popular in cultures where one gender is preferred over another. Although... a lot of those cultures are poorer nations, and might just pick the cheaper option of infanticide and then trying again. This unfortunately happens in places like China already.

Personally, I can't imagine ever using this technology, unless maybe I'd had a whole bunch of kids of one gender and wanted one of the other. I've known families where they had 4 girls, or 6 boys, or whatever, and none of the other gender, so for them it might be nice if they could choose one of the other.

If people did it that way, the normal distribution still wouldn't be disrupted, because the family who has 4 girls and 'chooses' a boy for #5 will balance with the family who has 4 boys and 'chooses' a girl for #5, and so on.