Gender Selection Through IVF
Sex selection through in vitro fertilization (IVF) may be used when parents want:
- A child of a specific sex.
- A balanced family – a boy and a girl – for example.
- To avoid passing on sex-linked diseases, such as hemophilia.
Preimplantation Screening (PGS)
A cell screening procedure that may be conducted in conjunction with an IVF cycle to determine the gender of each embryo.
PGS involves testing of 5-day-old embryos (blastocysts) that are created through IVF. Between six and seven cells are removed from the embryo and its chromosomal makeup is analyzed to determine if the embryo is normal, as well as the gender of the embryo (male or female). Then, only normal embryos of the desired sex are transferred to the uterus during the IVF cycle. Gender selection with PGS is 100 percent accurate.