Gender

ParentsFirstChoice

Women in the 21st century need not rely only on the chance meeting of the egg and sperm in the hope of getting the daughter or son that they have always wanted. In recent years, human conception has been revolutionized by science; now women have control and choices their grandmothers could not have dreamt of. Now a woman who has the inclination, time and money, can improve her chances of conceiving a son or daughter, as she prefers, by as much as 99%

But, with so many choices available, life has also become more complicated. Now a woman has not only to analyze the many high-tech methods available for gender selection; she also has to decide whether she, along with her family, can handle the psychological and financial stress that goes along with these methods. There is also the possibility that she may not get the gender baby she had wanted, after all.

Let us look at some of the methods of assisted gender selection available to today’s aspiring mother.

A lot of fertility clinics offer sperm spinning methods. This is a simple, inexpensive technique involving washing of the sperm, tagging the Y-bearing specimens for a boy and X bearing ones for a girl. Then insemination is timed according to the desired gender. It costs $600 and has yielded a 65% chance of getting a girl and 60% chance of getting a boy.

Another method of sex determination, called the Ericsson Albumin method, was developed by Dr Ericsson, a pioneer in this field. The current rate of success by this method is 75% for girls and 85% for boys. The costs are from $600 to $1200 per attempt. Till now, 2300 babies have been born following this method, which has been performed since 1975. This technology is available in licensed centers all over the US and in many countries outside the US.

The Ericsson method involves layering the separated sperm over human serum albumin, which is the chief protein in blood. The sperm, which swim downwards, are collected and then washed. Most of the sperm die out in this process, and only the sperm with high fertility quality survive. At the time of ovulation, a woman is artificially inseminated with these isolated sperm.

Women who are younger than forty years require about two attempts at the Ericsson method, in order to conceive. This method is free from any kind of health risks to women.

Dr Ericsson has noted a distinct preference for daughters in recent years. It is “trendy” to try for daughters now! Dr Ericsson thinks that today’s empowered women, with a much more assured place in society, see a bright future for daughters. They would also like to experience the mother-daughter relationship they enjoyed with their mothers. The age old custom of wanting a first born male child is gone forever!