Gender Selection

FAQs on Gender Selection

Often, parents with one or more child of a particular sex want to “balance” their family by having a boy or girl. This is called “Family Balancing”. Selecting the sex of the child can ensure that you have the family of your dreams. PGD for the prevention of transfer of Sex-Linked Diseases to children

Certain genetic mutations which cause genetic diseases are found on the X chromosome. These diseases are called X-linked diseases. In most cases, X-linked diseases are passed from carrier or affected mothers to their sons (see images below). Thus, sex selection can be used in these cases to have a girl child, who may be a carrier of the x-linked disease, but who will not be affected by the disease itself.

Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and Sex Selection

Using a technique called preimplantation genetic diagnosis, we can examine embryos created through in vitro fertilization i.e. ivf for the chromosome indicating if the embryos are male or female. Only embryos of the selected gender will then be transferred back into the mother’s uterus. This technique has a 99% chance of having a baby with the gender of your choice, if conception occurs. Embryos of the opposite gender can be frozen and “adopted” by infertile couples who can’t produce embryos of their own.

Dr. Peyman Saadat and his team of experts are here to help you with any questions you may have.