BBC NEWS | Talking Point | Baby sex selection: Your views

The British public are being given a say on whether parents should be able to choose the gender of their baby.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is putting the question to the public after it emerged that couples have been travelling overseas for sex selection treatments.

Currently, sex selection can only be offered to couples in the UK if there is a risk of a gender-linked genetic condition, such as haemophilia or muscular dystrophy.

When the HFEA last surveyed public opinion nine years ago, it found there was no backing for people to be able to choose the gender of their child.

Should parents be allowed to choose the gender of their baby? Do you think public opinion has changed in the last nine years?

This Talking Point has now closed. Thank you for your comments.

I'm against it personally, but I don't see why it should not be legal. After all, fertility treatments that result in multiple births are legal, and those are dangerous to the babies' health. Probably, you'll get as many wanting girls as boys, and it won't affect society much. I know that after 4 boys I am thrilled will with my 2 adorable daughters, but I had to get another husband to accomplish that!
Jan, US

With three months to go, we find that we have no preference

Andy, UK

My wife and I are expecting our first child in February. Before conception, we both really wanted a girl, and might have chosen sex selection if we could have afforded it. But now, with three months to go, we find that we have no preference - some natural process has taken over, and we are looking forward to our baby whatever sex it turns out to be.
andy, uk

I am pregnant with my third child. My main hope is for a healthy child, however it would be an added bonus if it was a girl. My boys are great, however my ideal family is at least one child of each sex. I feel that where a family has one or more children of one sex, they should be able to select a child of another sex.
anon, england

I don't think that this a good idea. Although I agree with body part cloning, genetic manipulation for medical purposes, etc, this is really a step too far. Nature keeps a more or less 1:1 balance for a reason. This would upset that balance massively and is another small step to true designer babies.
vish, UK

I feel the majority would only take this route for true purposes.

Jenni, UK

I am fully in favour of choosing gender in terms of avoiding genetic diseases. My friend has two boys, both with severe haemophilia. She was adopted at birth and didn't know she was carrier of the gene. When she became pregnant with her second child she was told he would also be haemophiliac and asked if she wanted a termination. That is an impossible decision as she desperately wanted the child.

There will always be a few who abuse the system to have designer babies, that is a fact of life. But I feel the majority would only take this route for true purposes.
Jenni, UK

Having been the 'unwanted' third daughter all my life, (it was hoped I would be a boy) I did everything I could (naturally) to influence my chances of having a much-wanted little girl -- and I was successful. If used cautiously, and on the merit of each case, I think gender selection is not a bad thing. However, abortion on demand when 'unsuccessful' with your choice of gender is another issue entirely. I would have been happy with a healthy little boy if my home-grown sex selection techniques had 'failed'.
Jacqueline, UK

Such low ambition limiting the choice to just two. Surely our scientists are working on improving the range available to the consumer?
Mike Holmes, Scotland

Leaving aside people's irrational fear of humanity "Playing God", I believe giving people the opportunity to select the sex of their child would be a mistake. Such a scenario would leave us only a short step from Gattaca-like super babies and wholesale discrimination against those who are conceived naturally. A possibly sizeable gender imbalance could have serious consequences as well.
Richard, New Zealand

Is potential colour-blindness a serious enough reason to warrant having a girl over a boy?

Kevin Jepson, Germany

The problem with all of these issues is where to draw the line. It's brilliant that this technology can reduce the risk of sex-linked disorders and terrible that it can be used simply because a couple would prefer one sex over the other. The problem lies in all of the in-between cases - is potential colour-blindness a serious enough reason to warrant having a girl over a boy, for example?
Kevin Jepson, Germany

You can already chose the sex of your child, its called adoption! Whilst all for science and progressing man kind, I don't think we should allow parents to choose the sex of their child for social reasons.
Stephen, GB

I am in favour of being able to choose the sex of your baby if you have two or more babies of the same sex. I am not in favour when Asian families may use this method just because they want a boy. There are high cases of abortions because of this!
Sangita Palan, UK

Choice will define the 21st century.

Gill, England

It's just a matter of time before sex selection of babies is made legal in this country because it's the wealthy who can afford IVF and will push for reform according to supply and demand principles. Besides, several countries abroad already provide this service legally. Choice will define the 21st century. Furthermore if there is an inequality of males/females born then the value of females will increase with their (probable) scarcity. With regard to developing countries, sex selection would also prevent families having endless children of the same sex thus curbing the increasing overpopulation of the planet.
Gill, England

Surely this is going too far. It people can choose the sex of their baby then what will they want next? I can see the merit in using this technology for genuine cases but not for the vast majority. Regardless of everything, where the technology exists, there will always be someone willing to buy and someone willing to sell. It's just a question of where and when.
Dave, UK

As a father-to-be, I am hoping simply for a healthy baby. I don't understand why some people would be so desperate for a child of a particular sex that they would seek medical intervention to guarantee it.
Andrew, UK

There will always be ethical or religious objections to this kind of thing, but, by the same token, there will always be someone, somewhere in the world who will be prepared to provide a service as long as it is technically possible. Far better if we in the UK go with the flow and allow it, with the appropriate medical standards being provided, rather than get on a plane to wherever.
Jack Delawney, UK

Mankind is already playing God with too much of nature

Ryan Leask, Scotland

If people are able to pick the gender of their child in the future this will lead to the 50:50 ratio of males and females being changed, maybe even dramatically. This would cause extreme changes in our society. Mankind is already playing God with too much of nature and this could end up being its greatest folly.
Ryan Leask, Scotland

With ever decreasing fertility among both men and women, I should think that it is enough that those wanting children are able to conceive at all, either naturally or with the aid of fertility treatment. I find it disheartening that we never appear to be satisfied in this country, there is always something more we require. Obviously I understand the importance of medical intervention where genetic conditions are to be avoided. Is it so much to ask though, that conception can be left to randomly select the sex of our babies, or does this inconvenience our modern lives a little too much?
Becky, UK

After another evening chasing my little boy around I'd gratefully choose a girl! Then again perhaps I'll just get another dog!
R, UK

Laws and regulations have to move with the times and with the public's changing morals and values. I don't think that most people would object to allowing a couple that had four sons and had lost their only daughter to use IVF to select a female embryo. On the other hand, using this technology to allow a general choice of sons and daughters is, I feel, still rightly taboo.
John, Scotland

This Talking Point has now closed. Thank you for your comments.