The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) is the group that sets ethical standards for fertility clinics. Most clinics follow the recommendations of this agency. In 1999, the position of the ASRM was that choosing an embryo solely on the basis of the gender of the baby should be discouraged. However, in 2001, this position was reversed.

Dr. Norbert Gleicher, who chaired a group of several reproductive medicine centers in and around Chicago, had written to the ASRM asking for a clarification on their gender selection recommendations. After consulting with the

committee members, Mr. John Robertson, the chairman of ASRM ethics committee wrote a letter in response to Dr. Gleicher’s inquiry. His response shocked the reproductive medicine community. The letter indicated that choosing an embryo based on gender was acceptable when being offered to offer “gender variety” to couple who already had a child and wished to have a child of the opposite gender.

Some doctors and couples were excited to have this opportunity to choose the gender of unborn children. However, not every doctor was pleased. Some thought that this was the beginning of a trip down a very slippery slope. As technology became more proficient, would parents start rejecting embryos based on intelligence or looks? Would it lead to a generation of designed babies?

At the time the ASRM found the use of preimplantation genetic screening (also called PGD) ethically acceptable, the sperm sorting method for gender selection had already been given the ethical green light. For some, the acceptance of PGD meant a more reliable method was available to couples who wanted to choose the gender of their child. For others, there was a huge difference between two methods because in sperm sorting, only sperm cells are rejected, while in PGD, embryos remain unused.

As the science of reproductive medicine has grown, more people have access to gender selection than ever before. Although more widely accepted now, ethical considerations must still be made by every couple considering both natural and medicinally invasive gender selection techniques.