Should Parents Decide The Fate of Their Own Child's Gender?
PITTSBURGH—Medical advancements in fertility have allowed people with difficulty conceiving children to become parents. Techniques such as in vitro fertilization provide an opportunity to select which fetuses, including which gender, are implanted. This has led to ethical questions on whether parents should be allowed to choose the gender of their child. The practice is already in use for medical reasons since certain genetic conditions are prevalent in one gender over another. The debate tends to arise in considering the practice for social reasons, such as gender preference. I asked several people in the Pittsburgh area whether gender selection should be the choice of parents. Many people interviewed felt gender selection should not be left to parents, though they cited different reasons for their opposition. Max Nicolussi, a 19-year-old student at Duquesne University was clear with his position on this hot topic. “I feel like if I was a parent, I would not choose for th...