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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on September 1, 2008
Human Reproduction 2008 23(12):2731-2736; doi:10.1093/humrep/den329
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Attitudes about preconception sex selection: a focus group study with Americans

A.L. Kalfoglou1,3, J. Scott2 and K. Hudson2

1 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle PUP 212, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA 2 Genetics and Public Policy Center, Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 530, Washington DC 20036, USA

3 Correspondence address. Tel: +1-410-455-2061; E-mail: akalfogl{at}umbc.edu

BACKGROUND: MicroSort, a sperm-sorting technology for sex selection, may eventually be approved by the Food and Drug Administration and marketed to the public. Data on US public attitudes about the morally appropriate uses and regulation of this technology are lacking.

METHODS: We conducted 20 focus groups in April 2003 with participants from five major US cities to identify the values that shape Americans’ attitudes about the use and regulation of preconception sex selection (PSS) technology. One hundred and seventy-six individuals between the ages of 18 and 68 were assigned to groups ranging from 6 to 11 participants based on their location, sex, race/ethnicity, religion, age, education and parental status. Qualitative analysis of focus group transcripts was conducted using NVivo 2.0 software to determine beliefs and values that shape participants’ opinions about the appropriate use and regulation of PSS.

RESULTS: Most participants strongly favor using PSS to avoid X-linked genetic diseases. Although some participants were uncomfortable with the use of PSS for non-medical sex selection, believing it to be ‘selfish’ and inconsistent with parental love, they did not perceive the potential harms to be significant enough to warrant governmental intrusion into reproductive decisions.

CONCLUSIONS: PSS should face little public opposition in the US if widely marketed.

Key words: sperm sorting/MicroSort/public opinion/attitudes/qualitative research

Submitted on December 12, 2007; resubmitted on August 1, 2008; accepted on August 5, 2008.


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