Fertility clinic in US gets green light for sex selection trial

[seriousstan]

A clinical trial into the effects of allowing couples to choose the sex of their babies has been given the go-ahead at a US fertility clinic. The controversial study was given the green light by an ethics committee after nine years of consultation. The purpose of the study is to find out how cultural notions, family values and gender issues feed into a couple's desire to choose the gender of their child.
Fertility clinics already use a technique called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis to select healthy embryos if a child has a high risk of inheriting a genetic disease, but the technique can also be used to select the sex of embryos for couples having IVF treatment. In many countries, including Britain, using PGD for family balancing is banned.
Fertility specialists at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas have already received 50 inquiries from couples about joining the trial, according to the journal Nature today. Only couples who have already had one child and want another of the opposite sex are eligible. As well as assessing the factors that contribute to a couple's decision to select the sex of their next baby, doctors will monitor the health of the children and any social issues that arise in their families as they grow up.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1601160,00.html