is elective gender selection, indeed, sexist?
GROUND: Like a number of international organizations before them, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recently issued an ethics opinion, which condemned all indications of elective gender selection as devaluatory to women and sexist and, therefore, given the choice, assumed automatic preference for male gender selection in all populations. This study intended to investigate this notion for accuracy. METHODS: We investigated the desired gender in 92 couples who had undergone between January 2004 and December 2006 first in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles in attempts at gender selection for family balancing purposes. Their choices were then also investigated stratified for the ethnicity of the couple. RESULTS: Among 92 cycles, 36 cycles were selected for female and 56 for male (P = 0.037). An analysis based on the couples’ ethnicities revealed, however, considerable differences in gender selection patterns. Especially Chinese (21 out of 22), Arab/Muslim (5 out
