A Boy for You, A Girl for Me: Technology Allows Choice

What do you think about such a use of technology? Are we on our way to becoming another China or India, where the natural balance between the sexes of newborns is skewed deliberately, thus causing crises later on? After all, a large portion of people using this approach said they'd terminate the pregnancy if the embryo wasn't of the proper sex. :wow: And didn't all the fertility experts who created these technologies tell us that they would never be used for such purposes?

And what the fuck is up with needing a boy to pass the family business on to? What kind of message is he passing along to his daughters: that they aren't going to be competent enough to run a business because of their sex? And what if the sons don't WANT to run the family business: Is dear ol' Dad gonna tell them "Sorry, I paid $20K to bring you into this world to follow me, and you're gonna do what I say!"?

I predict a LOT of therapy in these kids' future.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62067-2004Dec13.html

Kristen and John Magill adore all three of their daughters -- 11-year-old twins and a 5-year-old baby sister. But when they began to plan for their next -- and last -- child, the Magills really wanted a boy.

"My husband is a 'Junior' and has a family business that he wants to continue in the family name," said Kristen, 37, of Grafton, Mass.

So the Magills combined a family trip to Disneyland in August with a stop at a Los Angeles fertility clinic that enables couples to pick the sex of their babies. Kristen is now expecting twin boys.

"I'm excited," she said. "We always wanted a boy. We really wanted just one, but we'll be happy with two."

Just another form of ---"Be all that you can be".

Thought provoking indeed!