Designer Babies

Emily Smith, Adrian Maya, Bryan Chever, Jay Mendoza,

Nick Luu, Alonzo Houston, Agnes Szakacs, Alana EnanoSahagun,
and Andie Galland

Should parents be allowed to

select the gender of their
child?

SCIENCE: In VItro Fertilization ( IVF )

In VItro Fertilization is a procedure used commonly to treat
infertility and in other cases used to choose the gender of a
child.
Two Methods of IVF:
Conventional Insemination: Sperm is presented next to
the Egg and they are allowed to penetrate the egg on their
own.
Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Insemination: A single
sperm is selected out of a group and immobilized then
injected into the egg's cytoplasm. (VERY RARE)
It takes around 72 hours for the process to complete

IVF
cumulus
cells

holding pipette

cytoplasm

Intracytoplasmic
Sperm Injection
Insemination: A
single sperm is
selected out of a
group and
immobilized then
injected into the egg's
cytoplasm.

Sperm
Egg

Sperm Sorting
The sex of an individual is determined by a pair of sex chromosomes.
(XX & XY)
Sperm Sorting is a process where sperm are sorted according to
weight.
X sperm cells are slightly bigger than Y cells (they have around 2.8 %
more genetic material), in result X cells are slightly heavier.

PGD and
Gender
Selection
The Preimplantation
Genetic Diagnosis is
a screening test used to
examine embryos for
genetic and/or
chromosomal disorders.
This is performed
during IVF and after the
egg shows cell division.
The embryos results
might decide if it is
terminated or not.

Trophectoderm
Zona Pellucida

Inner Cell
Mass

Embryonic Biopsy

Gender Selection Pros and Cons

PROS

CONS

Family Balancing

Gender Inequality

Gender selection for

medical reasons

Cost Great Deal of

Money

Accessible

Religion/social
Groups

Case Study #1: Alan & Louise Masterton

Mastertons had a daughter, Nicole, who died in a bonfire accident in
99. Since then, the Mastertons have been trying (unsuccessfully)
to have another daughter.
The HFEA (Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority) was
against the Mastertons to use technology to conceive a daughter.
Went abroad to Italy to see if they can have a girl, unfortunately they
were unable to create female embryos. Donated the embryos to
other families.
Never could fill the hole left in their family.

Case Study #2: Australias Ban on Gender

Selection
Sex Selection is prohibited through Australia, the ban on the selection
was created in 2004.
Australian health ethics committee believes that admission to life
should not be conditional upon the child being a particular sex.
Three states in Australia prohibit sex selection unless it is use to
prevent an genetically abnormal disease.

Case Study #3: Gender Preference in China

It is more tradition to have a boy than a girl in China. Many families
feel the pressure to have a male heir to passed down legacy.
China has a ban on Gender Selection
This effects the Chinese during the time of the One Child Policy (which was used for
population control).

Imbalance in Gender Ratios.

118 males born to every 100 females.

PHILOSOPHY--SEX SELECTION PRO

The case of the Masterton family and Australia's sex selection ban
and Chinas one child policy raises an important question: Should
parents be allowed to select the gender of a child?
If we look at this through the lense of a Millsian-utilitarian than we
can see that it would actually be immoral to not let them
choose the sex of their baby as it doesnt immediately infringe
on your rights

PHILOSOPHY SEX SELECTION CON

The case of the Masterton family and Australia's sex selection ban
raises an important question: Should parents be allowed to select
the gender of a child?
We can use a Heideggerian approach to answer that question.
Heidegger would say that sex selection ignores the essence of parenthood.
Youll be ignoring the true essence of parenthood by just focusing on what
will make you happy.

If we use a Bentham-utilitarianism lense to look at it we can also see

how it would be immoral to allow sex selection
Having sex selection easily accessible would lead to a sex-imbalance which
would leave everybody unhappy

Thank You