Should you choose the sex of your baby?

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has ruled that parents should not have the legal right to select the sex of their baby.

At the moment UK law outlaws the practice - except in some cases for medical reasons alone - but some couples have travelled to countries where the technique is legal.

What do you think? Should parents be allowed to select the sex of their child?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

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The following comments reflect the balance of views we have received:

Whenever man meddles with nature there are usually dire consequences Stephen, England

In China they have had a one child only policy for years now. In rural areas they had to relax this as if the first child was a female the parents would kill it because they wanted boys to help with the farm work. The policy still has consequences as most still want males and this has led to there being a gender imbalance of 112 million more males than females in the year 2000, this will have increased since then. With the shortage of females to males, this has led to widespread kidnapping of females, which with the increasing disparity could spread to neighbouring countries. Whenever man meddles with nature there are usually dire consequences.
Stephen, England

NO. I think it's a stupid idea, we are so eager to control everything and everyone. Shouldn't it just be natural?
Hannah, UK

I wouldn't do it, but so what? If some family wants this, what right have I or anybody else to stop them? Where is the proven or predicted harm?
John Lawrence, UK

There should be no law against couples choosing the sex of their children if that is how they want to go about creating a family. In practise I suspect few people will bother. The natural way is much more user friendly!
Alison Rothkopf, UK

No, no, no, no, no. Some people seem to think that it's their god given right to have children, and now they want to choose whether to have a girl or a boy. Go buy a dog, then you can choose.
Claire P, UK

If people are desperate for a specific gender then adopt Joan, Scotland

No, people should not be allowed to choose the sex of their baby unless it is for medical conditions. What would happen if everyone chose to have males? Where would we be then? Let nature take its course - not everyone is entitled to have children - some people can't have children. We should be grateful for the child/children nature intended us to have - they are precious. If people are desperate for a specific gender then adopt. There are many children out there desperate for homes.
Joan, Scotland

Married couples should be allowed to choose the gender of their 3rd child if they already have two of the same. Every couple wants a boy and a girl don't they? This is not a matter for the politicians! It's already happening in the US for responsible caring couples.
Jen, Scotland

The question is: Should sex selection be allowed? I would like to ask: Should sex selection be controlled?
Agha Ata, USA

NO NO NO NO NO, let nature take its course, the human race has ruined the environment, killed off thousands if not millions of species and seems intent on destroying the balance of Nature. About time the 'Civilised' world got round to curing disease, famine and poverty instead of trying to pervert the course of Nature.
Nigel, Sweden

I think it's terrible that a parent would want to do that Matt, South West England

I think nature should be left to its own devices and its certainly not up to us to alter evolution. I think it's terrible that a parent would want to do that. Having a child should be a natural and in some respects Romantic thing to do and I think it spoils the whole magic of nature to know these things.
Matt, South West England

I think giving such an option is disgusting and any parent wishing to make this choice and act it out is not fit to be a parent.
PG, Australia/from UK

But of course. Parents should be able to choose every aspect of their future possession so that the child reflects perfectly the wonder of those parents. Wonder when the first doctor will be sued for getting a child's sex wrong?
Paul Bridle, UK

I don't really see what's so wrong with this, except that it might upset the natural gender balance of the population. I have two brothers and three step brothers, so I'd understand if my parents had've wanted a girl at some point. And look at Henry VIII - if he'd had access to this technology he might not have killed so many wives.
Russ, UK

Do we want the government to limit medical choice or should that be down to doctors and individuals? E A Williams, UK

People, please, we must make a distinction between Morality and legislation. It is not always possible, or indeed the best choice for society, to try to effect Morality into Law. (and whose Morality would we choose, anyway?) "Shoulds" have nothing to do with Law! Should parents love the kids they get? YES. Should they be able to choose the sex of their kids? WHO KNOWS? That's not a pin-down-able issue.

Let's think of what makes a Fair and Reasonable Law: Do we want the government to limit medical choice or should that be down to doctors and individuals? Think carefully here, please! Don't favour legislation simply because people "ought" to be "Moral" (according to YOUR standards, that is!).
E A Williams, UK

Nature has its own way of addressing its own imbalances without humans playing GOD. Having a child is beautiful be it male or female. Lets not play with Nature and accept whatever fate has in store for us.
Arif sayed, Dubai, UAE

I think that you should be able to choose the sex of your baby if it is at risk of a disease but not otherwise.
Sophie, England

I think that sex selection is wrong except in cases of medical emergency. The idea that a human can presume to decide if an embryo can live or die is disgusting. People who only want the procedure for social reasons are shallow and snobby. We can NOT play god!
Bilbo, Mongolia

Babies are not accessories Zorbie, UK

I don't understand how people can say I want a baby boy or a baby girl! Babies are not accessories (Yes... can I have one in purple as well please!)
Zorbie, UK

Imagine if you chose to have a boy... and that boy grew up wishing he'd been born a girl, or vice-versa. You'd be a hated parent!
Rosanna, UK

Nine times out of ten the preferred sex of one's baby is male, particularly if it is the first born. In China where they still have a "one child only" policy in place for much of the country infanticide of female children is rife. If every parent wanted all male off-spring think of the final outcome - no females to continue the human race as we know it. Let nature choose - at least we have more chance of striking the correct balance in the male:female ratio of the world's population.
Hazel, UK

I have heard so many people criticise countries such as China and India for their determination to have boys than girls and now we have an option which is hidden through technology... It's sick how people can justify such a motive (other than of course medically), it doesn't matter if it's a boy or girl, its still a child! If one actually conceives this idea as a good option, just being the sex of the baby an important issue, then I recommend those people adopt!
Mr A Shah, England

If you want to have a baby, it shouldn't really matter which sex it is Michèle, Belgium

Parents shouldn't have the option of choosing the gender of child. If you want to have a baby, it shouldn't really matter which sex it is. As a parent you have to be content with your child, not with the gender of your child. Maybe within a few 1000 years, there will be too many girls or boys, when everybody wants the same gender.
Michèle, Belgium

A resounding NO! Once we start down this path, there is no turning back. It would be the birth of applied eugenics.
Chris, Brighton, UK

This very notion reduces a baby, a person, to a mere consumer commodity and is totally unethical. With the exception of strong medical arguments, such an option should not be given to potential parents.
J Woolf, England

In a few years time we will be told what sex child we can have, when we run out of young woman who are willing to have a child. Most women do not want to be single parents with no help from men who want the benefits of playing daddy for a couple of hours a week but pay not a penny, even resorting to signing on so they need to make no payments.
Pauline, England

Parents should not have right at all. I am ashamed that parents are the root cause of imbalance in India. I wish knowing gender itself is made illegal around the world.
Sangam Dhruva, USA (India)

I think people should be grateful for what they get Shibli, UK

I think people should be grateful for what they get. Being Asian, in our culture boys are more in demand than girls - people think that boys will look after the family, support the family and uphold the reputation of the family, here else girls are looked at temporary guest who will be given away to another family when she marries. But living here in London they should realise that girls are just as good as boys and can do almost everything that they can. People should open their eyes and realise they should be grateful for the child they have been given and thank god that they are able to conceive.
Shibli, UK

For those who reel out the 'moral' aspects or the 'Only God' rubbish, may I remind you that only a century ago it was normal, i.e. 'God Given' that most children died in the first five years from childhood diseases. Medicine challenged this view. Abortion laws effectively give the option for parents to choose a 'healthy' baby over a seriously disabled one. Choosing the sex of a child is no different. It is certainly no part of Government to interfere in the decision. And I as a Tax payer should never have any part of the bill. Choosing the sex of a child is a private matter both for the decision and the costs.
Barry P, England

Parents should have the option of choosing the gender of their third child. This would prevent imbalance, answer parental wishes and prevent them from having child after child in search of the gender they crave. I would however add that such a service should not be provided on the NHS as it has nothing to do with health.
Scott Hegley, UK

I had to learn is there is no God given right to have one sex or the other Martyn Howie, Scotland

As the father of three boys, who desperately wanted a girl, I had to come to terms with the disappointment (yes disappointment) of having a third boy.. I punched a wall so hard I broke a bone in my hand. What I had to learn is there is no God given right to have one sex or the other, and as an older and wiser man said to me three sons generates three daughter-in-laws. It is a sad fact of life but sometimes we don't get what we want, choosing the sex is not inherently dangerous as far as population demographics go, what is dangerous is the pandering to peoples wants and desires!
Martyn Howie, Scotland

No, parents should not be allowed to order on demand the sex of a child. Mother Nature plays the provider of human evolution and should be left alone. I actually heard someone say yesterday "I choose which car I want why shouldn't I choose the sex of my child, colour of hair, eyes etc. I beg to think what might be next in this consumer driven society perhaps it will be mandatory face lifts for the elderly so that they don't look ugly to the too posh brigade.
Peter B, UK

My wife is unable to have children. We'd be delighted to have one at all, regardless of its sex. Isn't that the point? If you want to choose, then I'd question your suitability of becoming parents in the first place.
Tim, UK

Children aren't any more or less, a blessing for humans than they are for rats, they're just necessary, as are some sort person or organisation to bring them up.
Steve, UK

We live in such a packaged-lifestyle consumer society that being able to choose the sex of your baby would seem perfectly natural to most people.
Jan Beardall, UK

Nature works the way it does for a reason Adrian, England

The way people say it sometimes, you'd think that choosing the sex of your child is no greater than having ready salted or cheese and onion crisps. In fact, the implications it has are far greater than we can conceive. You're not just choosing between boy or girl, you're choosing between one life and another completely different one. I'm all for science but nature works the way it does for a reason.
Adrian, England

No! I was supposed to be an "Andreas" or "Sebastian" since my father wanted a boy after two girls and boy oh boy, am I glad that he didn't have anything to say in this case!
Franziska, UK

I am only 13, but i think that you should have the choice of the sex of your baby. I Think that couples would be happier knowing what they are going to have, and being able to choose about what they want.
Charlotte Stanley, England

My personal emotions and feelings pass on a negation to the pertinent question. However, looking from the point of view of a parent obsessive about having a child of a particular sex, I would say it is OK if a parent decides at the stage of foetus. It is better, not to have a baby than to have it and hate it throughout its life course.
Rockendra Gupta, India

I say you love what you are given, no matter the sex, colour or abilities of the child Frank Bradshaw, Horsham, UK

As the proud father of three beautiful daughters, I say no. My wife on the other hand, if we ever decide to have another, says yes. Who is right? I say you love what you are given, no matter the sex, colour or abilities of the child. What if the selection process went wrong and you got the opposite of what you wanted? If the child found out, there would be no telling what psychological damage would be done.
Frank Bradshaw, Horsham, UK

Just think - soon could be born the man who will win the World Cup for England, or bring home the Ashes, or win Wimbledon. Or maybe the woman whose creativity and caring is the catalyst for bringing peace between warring countries. If Sex Determination is allowed, how can we be sure of making the right choice for ourselves, our nation, or our planet?
Paul, Maidenhead, UK

I don't think you should be able to choose the sex of your baby! I think it spoils the surprise when you give birth.
Jackie Reid, England

Wasn't there some theory that nature provided a balance between births of male and female children according to the circumstances in place at the time? More males being born after devastating wars, for example, almost as though nature was replenishing its losses in some way we couldn't understand? Like the climate, are we now to interfere with yet another natural process that we don't fully comprehend, not because we should, but simply because we CAN?
Richard Blake-Reed, Bath, UK

In our society, there are no social or economic pressures which would influence a preference for one sex or another John, Edinburgh

In our society, there are no social or economic pressures which would influence a preference for one sex or another. The vast majority of couples who would choose the sex of their child would do so only to create their ideal family. There is nothing wrong with this. It is as fundamental a choice as whether or not to start a family in the first place.
John, Edinburgh, Scotland

Why don't we start a poll on which sex everyone would choose if they could choose their babies. Then we can figure out if indeed there would be an imbalance as everyone is predicting.
Fay, UK

Sex Determination Tests were first made available to the rural population of Northern India in the early 80's. Now 20 years later, the sex ratio has plummeted from 1:1 to 1:0.8 (boys to girls).
Vish, U.S.A / India

Selection should only be allowed for medical reasons and for family 'balancing' Paul, UK

Selection should only be allowed for medical reasons and for family 'balancing'. This means that it won't have an adverse effect on the gender balance of the population. I don't agree with the somewhat unspecific "don't mess with nature" arguments, nor the 'slippery slope' theory of "next it will be eye colour/hair colour/ whatever" - that is not an argument for disallowing gender selection, merely for not allowing anything further.
Paul, UK

I think that they should be allowed, I do not see what all the fuss is about. If parents want a girl they can have a girl, same goes for a boy. It doesn't mean they'll love and care for them any less. I honestly think those that wish to choose should be allowed to. There are many issues that are far worse than this case that need to be addressed!
maya, UK

If you have three of one and none of the other, why not, that is balancing your family. We will not face the same situation as China, or asia, where boys are needed to provide. In the UK girls provide for their parents as much as boys when they can. This is just being able to have an even balance of the human race and the free will to do so. Because this is Britain and we are at the moment allowed the freedom of choice.
F. Williamson, england

No we shouldn't allow this. There are millions out there (including myself) who would be grateful for a child of any sex, who would not dream of the idea of choosing which one. Let's just be grateful for babies who are born!
Sarah, UK

I can't understand why people would want to choose the sex of a child. My girlfriend is 18 weeks pregnant at the minute and we can't comprehend why anybody would have a preferance to the sex of a child. The very fact my girlfriend is pregnant makes me realise that this is going to be the greatest gift that we are going to be "given". Is nothing in this world sacred anymore? When will people just leave nature alone and stop these vulgar "advances" in sciene and medicine?
Nick, UK

Will the HFEA be recommending that we outlaw heart transplants as well? Are these not just as unnatural as pre-determining a baby's gender? Who knows what benefits this scientific procedure may provide us? If Britain doesn't do it, someone else will, and, once again, we'll be left behind in the scientific community.
Mike Neilson, Scotland

The government has absolutely no business taking a role in such a private decision Caroline, France/UK

I am astounded at the bovine passivity of your commentators. Not one of them said that the government has absolutely no business taking a role in such a private decision between a man and a woman. This is authoritarianism and it is very dangerous.
Caroline, France/UK

Tampering with nature in this fashion cannot be a good thing. The universe has billions of years on us with regard to natural selection. Ultimately it does not matter what we do as nature will inevitably have the last laugh.
Simon, UK

If we can now decide the sex of a baby before its born I think for the next couple of years we should produce nothing but girls. My son will have the time of life when he turns 16!
Matt, UK

A baby is something you should be blessed to have whatever the sex. Certainly, if you were told there was a serious illness you could pass on to only one sex then yes, it may be something to be considered but spare a thought to the thousands of people who have trouble conceiving and would be thrilled to have a child of any sex.
Stephanie, UK

Science is about giving us new choices. Let's embrace the choices that we have strived for Peter, UK

Contraception used to be thought of as unethical. Any new technique that has apparent social consequences is always considered wrong to start with. Then as we come to accept the idea, the mood changes.
Let's look at this like all things. Science is about giving us new choices. Let's embrace the choices that we have strived for and stop thinking in the past.
Peter, UK

Let the nature takes its course. It is a blessing to have a baby regardless of the gender. The problem in China is self-inflicted. Chinese parents are the ones who favoured male babies and now they had to face the dilemma of their sons not able to find a wife.
Li Leng Lee, Canada

You probably won't print this, but I have just have to add the ultimate modern irony would be a child of parents who picked a daughter, who then decided she had really been born in the wrong body and had a sex-change operation.
Robin Kearns, United States

Personally I don't have a problem with people being allowed to choose, however, I can see future potential for "designer" babies where you can select for eye colour, hair colour, etc. I have no problem with engineering out disease and birth defects (being born with them myself, I would prefer not to have them), but I would hate to see everyone all looking the same or the consequences of being different (watch the movie Gattaca).
Cynthia, USA

I think the issue is not so much moral as practical. In eastern countries, like China and Korea, there's a big problem with selective abortion. China has forty million more men than women. This is where the problem lies.
Louis, Belgium

There would only be a small number of people who would want to choose the sex of their child, the vast majority will just be happy with what they are given and wouldn't even consider choosing. I think that if you have two or more children of the same sex and you would like one further child of the opposite sex and you are willing to pay for IVF and go through the trauma of it, why not. Maybe we should be looking at those who choose abortion if they get a child of the 'wrong sex' instead.
Deb, UK

Whatever happened to respect for life as it comes? Morgana, UK

Children are being regarded as fashion accessories by some individuals - please do not allow these unfit, whim driven potential parents to go ahead and think they can have designer babies as they wish!! Whatever happened to respect for life as it comes?
Morgana, UK

I'S SHOULD BE FOUGHT. This act of senseless thinking by these parents is, however, getting out of hand and it should be fought against in all over the world.
Chernor, Spain

God forbid! Being a happy mother of three boys, I wouldn't have it ANY other way.
Jane Wilson, USA, formerly UK

In many less developed countries unwanted babies (usually girls) are abandoned or killed as sons are generally regarded as the preferred sex so they can support their parents in later life. Allowing parents to choose the sex of their child is just a hi-tech way of doing the same thing. Let's just take whatever child we get... after all we are supposed to live in age of sex equality in the UK so it shouldn't matter anyway.
John R Smith, UK

No, because it will skew the balance between the sexes in a generation according to culture or fashion, which can't be healthy. Ask someone who is old enough to remember what life was like when nearly a whole generation of young men got wiped out in the Great War: I'm sure they'll tell you the imbalance wasn't all good.
Phil, UK

The only thing I have against choosing the sex of babies is the obvious impracticality Matthew, UK

Strange, we don't think of phrases like 'playing god' and 'interference does more harm than good' when we see lives saved in hospitals every day. The only thing I have against choosing the sex of babies is the obvious impracticality: We could end up buggering up the ratio of boys to girls. Look at the social problems in China for example.
Matthew, UK

If you don't want to select the sex of your baby - and I don't - then don't do it. But why not allow others to? What harm does it do to you?
Ben, UK

When will scientists stop trying to play God?
Sue Orndal, UK

No they shouldn't have a say. Other wise how will we balance the sex in the future if every one wanted girls it wouldn't be fare.
Georgina, England

All these comments about how we 'must not interfere with nature' are absurd. Mankind interferes with nature every single day, from driving a car to cosmetic surgery. So why should being able to choose the gender of your baby be any different? It's sheer rank hypocrisy.
David, UK

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