by April May Maple

Created on: September 08, 2009   Last Updated: September 09, 2009

Should people be allowed to choose their baby's sex?The answer is simple, yes. If there is a safe way to choose the sex of a child, it should be made available. Of course, not everyone would elect to make the decision. Many parents would allow nature, god or whatever they believe to decide.

There are many reasons why allowing parents to decide would benefit both parents and child. Imagine a father, the last male in the family, unable to produce a son to carry on his name. In August of '08, an Egyptian farmer's wife, Ghazala Khamis, gave birth to septuplets in her attempts to have a son. She already had three girls. Now she has six girls and four boys for a total of ten children.

Many families are larger than the parents originally intended, because they could not give up on their attempts of producing the son or daughter they sought after. Having a large family can be financially taxing, as well as very stressful for the parents and children.

Look at the drastically different lives a child would lead having been born to parents that wanted the opposite sex compared to being born to parents that finally had the son or daughter they coveted. The parents and the child would be happier.

It would not be a procedure that was spur of the moment. You would not just be able to go to the doctor and tell him "I'm pregnant, make it a girl." It more than likely would have to be very much like the fertility treatments available currently. The father and mother would meet with a doctor, eggs and semen would have to be collected, fertilized then implanted and cultivated. The egg would simply need to be fertilized with only male or female sperm.

One of the largest arguments against this option is the "don't play god" spiel. When it comes to babies and pregnancy science has made leaps and bounds. No one considers it playing god when doctors save a baby's life thanks to modern technology. Instead, they praise god, thanking him for allowing us to save her.

It is not playing god when a woman miraculously becomes pregnant after a fertility treatment, again we thank god for the treatment's success. Birth control prevents unwanted pregnancies in women that are not prepared or medically able to have children and, yet again, we thank god with relief when the test comes up negative.

God or nature still has many things left to choose. Will the baby have mom's or dad's eyes? Will they be independent, perhaps stubborn or maybe they will be happy-go-lucky and carefree. Even if parents have chosen the sex, it does not guarantee they will get the child they envisioned. Their athlete may be an artist or their ballerina a basketball player. Any parent can attest to the fact that every child is full of surprises, no matter if they are boy or girl.

If available, no one would be forced into it, just like now parents have the option to learn the sex of the baby at the ultrasound or wait until the birth. Choosing the sex would be an elective procedure paid for by the parents. This decision being made available will only effect those that choose to take advantage of it. For those that disagree, they can simply choose not to participate. It is simply unfair to deprive parents that have no apprehensions about making the decision due to the religious or personal feelings of others.

Source:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-10 46183/Mother-gives-birth-second-set-septuplets-survi ve.html#ixzz0QWq9iUJk

Learn more about this author, April May Maple.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.