Human Reproduction, Vol. 17, No. 2, 517,
February 2002
© 2002 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Letters to the editor |
PGD and sex selection
Malpani Infertility Clinic, IVF, GIFT, Sperm Banking, Jamuna Sagar, Bhagat Singh Road, Colaba Bus Depot, Colaba, Bombay 400 005, India
Correspondence: E-mail: malpani{at}vsnl.com
Dear Sir,
The ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law states, regarding the ethical concerns related to the technique of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD): `...we are aware of the risks of abuse for non-medical reasons. Information and consent of the couple, public transparency and the respect of professional guidelines will limit abuse.' (ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law, 2001
). These are strong words from a committee which has chosen to take the moral high ground, without bothering to explain why they feel using PGD for non-medical reasons (such as sex selection for family balancing) is an abuse, if the couple requests it! Do they feel that using plastic and reconstructive surgery for cosmetic reasons is an abuse of surgical skills? This is a topic where alternative views do exist, and other authors have argued that the use of PGD to increase gender variety in a family is ethically acceptable in many cases (Savulescu, 1999; Robertson, 2001).
We have been offering PGD for sex selection for family balancing in our clinic in India since April 1999 and have treated 28 patients (42 cycles). Thirteen of these have conceived, and eight have given birth so far. I believe that if we allow people to choose when to have babies, how many to have, and even to terminate pregnancies if they inadvertently get pregnant, then why not allow them to select the sex of their child if they would like to do so? The basic purpose of technology is to give couples more control over their destiny than they have had in the past. In all fairness, we need to give due credit to people's intelligence and allow them to make their choices for themselves, rather than presume that only committees, politicians or lawyers have the requisite sense to decide what is best for everyone else.
References
ESHRE Task Force on Ethics and Law (2001) The moral status of the pre-implantation embryo. Hum. Reprod., 16, 1046–1048.
Robertson, J.A. (2001) Preconception gender selection. Am. J. Bioethics, 1, 2–9.
Savulescu, J. (1999) Sex selection—the case for. Med. J. Australia, 171, 373–375.
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