“Most people imagine what it would be like to have a baby boy or girl. They play out the different scenarios in their minds and formulate hypothetical lives with their little girl or boy. While some may have a preference to one over the other at first, they are just as happy and feel an immense amount of love for their child, regardless of gender when they are born.
Advances in technology allow you to know the sex of the child during the early stages of pregnancy through Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) when using IVF. This testing essentially allows you to choose the sex of your baby before it is implanted in the uterus.
While you cannot alter the sex of the embryo,with PGS it is possible know the sex through chromosomal testing. Eggs contain the “X” chromosome, while sperm can contain either “X” or “Y” chromosomes. Gender is therefore determined by the sperm.
There are many reasons to undergo gender selection, ranging from personal to medical reasons. It is typically only done under careful consideration as there is an additional cost for PGS testing and reduces the number of embryos to transfer if you are looking to obtain a specific gender.
There are some medical disorders that are gender specific and by utilizing Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGS) you can avoid passing on the trait to your children. Some sex-linked disorders include hemophilia, Huntington’s disease and muscular dystrophy. If you know that you or your partner carry one of these mutations, using PGS to avoid passing them on to your children is beneficial.
While many people may have always envisioned having a little girl or boy, they are equally as happy regardless of the sex. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with our fertility specialists or to attend one of our patient education seminars.”
