In medieval France, men would tie off their left testicle in order to produce a baby boy only.



Sounds strange and unusual? Maybe, but the desire to choose gender of their baby is still strong among today's parents-to-be. They just don't want to rely on the same primitive (an ineffective) methods.

Today, there are cutting edge technologies available which can literally allow parents to choose the gender of their baby.

Sadly, one of those methods is - selective abortion. Mother can find out the gender of her baby using amniocentesis, and then decide to have an abortion if the sex of the baby turns out not to be what she have hoped to be.

This gender selection method is most prevalent in those countries where, historically and culturally, boys were preferred.

Fortunately, there are other options for parents eager to choose gender of their baby. None of them free of ethical considerations, though!

In mid 1970's, geneticist Ronald Ericsson, PhD, developed the gender selection method that remains known as Ericsson method.

This method sorts between male and female producing sperm and involves artificial insemination. Comparing to other gender selection methods, Ericsson method is not very expensive and invasive - however it possesses lower success rates.

The cost is about 2 000 USD per circle. About three times out of ten, this gender selection method fails.

Used since 1989, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) method of gender selection involves in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Doctors analyze the cells from embryos to determine its sex and consequently, only the embryo of desired gender is returned to woman's uterus.

The cost is nearly 20 000 USD, but it is 100 % accurate.

PGD carries high chances of multiples.

The newest and most talked about gender selection method is a variation on Ericsson's method and is best known as Microsort.

The statistics show that 86 % of parents who used this methods to conceive, did so for sex selection.

The cost is about 15 000 USD, and success rate is about 90 % for conceiving girls, but only 74 % for conceiving boys.

Microsort method is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Let just add that, while in United States gender selection is currently allowed for both genetic and preferential reasons, many other countries opted to regulate the whole matter much more restrictively.