OBJECTIVE: Preconception sex selection for nonmedical reasons raises important moral, legal, and social issues. The main concern is based upon the assumption that a widely available service for sex selection will lead to a socially disruptive imbalance of the sexes. For a severe sex ratio distortion to occur, however, at least two conditions have to be met. First, there must be a significant preference for children of a particular sex, and second, there must be a considerable interest in employing sex selection technology. Our objective was to ascertain such demand and preferences among the United States general population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional web-based survey. SETTING: United States general population. PATIENT(S): One thousand one hundred ninety-seven men and women aged 18 to 45 years. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Web-based questionnaire assessing preferences for sex of children and demand for preconception sex selection for nonmedical reasons. RESULT(S): Eight percent of respondents would use preconception sex selection technology, 74% were opposed, and 18% were undecided. If the sex selection process was simplified to taking a pill, 18% would be willing to use such a medication, 59% were opposed, and 22% were undecided. In terms of gender choices, 39% of respondents would like their first child to be a son, 19% would like their first child to be a daughter, and 42% had no preference. Overall, 50% wished to have a family with an equal number of boys and girls, 7% with more boys than girls, 6% with more girls than boys, 5% with only boys, 4% with only girls, and 27% had no preference. CONCLUSION(S): Preconception sex selection technology via sperm separation is unlikely to be used by the majority of the United States population and is unlikely to have a significant impact on the natural sex ratio.
OBJECTIVE: Preconception sex selection for nonmedical reasons raises important moral, legal, and social issues. The main concern is based upon the assumption that a widely available service for sex selection will lead to a socially disruptive imbalance of the sexes. For a severe sex ratio distortion to occur, however, at least two conditions have to be met. First, there must be a significant preference for children of a particular sex, and second, there must be a considerable interest in employing sex selection technology. Our objective was to ascertain such demand and preferences among the United States general population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional web-based survey. SETTING: United States general population. PATIENT(S): One thousand one hundred ninety-seven men and women aged 18 to 45 years. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Web-based questionnaire assessing preferences for sex of children and demand for preconception sex selection for nonmedical reasons. RESULT(S): Eight percent of respondents would use preconception sex selection technology, 74% were opposed, and 18% were undecided. If the sex selection process was simplified to taking a pill, 18% would be willing to use such a medication, 59% were opposed, and 22% were undecided. In terms of gender choices, 39% of respondents would like their first child to be a son, 19% would like their first child to be a daughter, and 42% had no preference. Overall, 50% wished to have a family with an equal number of boys and girls, 7% with more boys than girls, 6% with more girls than boys, 5% with only boys, 4% with only girls, and 27% had no preference. CONCLUSION(S): Preconception sex selection technology via sperm separation is unlikely to be used by the majority of the United States population and is unlikely to have a significant impact on the natural sex ratio.
Authors: E Dahl; M Beutel; B Brosig; S Grüssner; Y Stöbel-Richter; H-R Tinneberg; Elmar Brähler Journal: J Assist Reprod Genet Date: 2006-09-17 Impact factor: 3.412
Authors: Dana B McQueen; Christopher M Warren; Alexander H Xiao; Lee P Shulman; Tarun Jain Journal: J Assist Reprod Genet Date: 2021-06-25 Impact factor: 3.357