Would you choose the Sex of your baby?

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=darkviolet]Later in the week a news program is going to have this as one of their subjects, but I figured I'd beat them to it by bringing up the topic now.

If the option was made avaible to you would you choose the sex of your baby?

I'm not sure how to put this topic I know that if it was offered to me, I really wouldn't want to pick if I had a boy or a girl. Because after that, what's next being able to pick out genetic traits? The last person who tried that ended up starting the lovely dissagreement that historians like to call World War two.

But what about the rest of you? Do you think it's ethical to decide what you're going to have? Would you really want to?

I lok forward to your comments[/color]

[oshi]

I would like to choose, actually. Over the years I've sort of gotten my heart set on a son. I think that, by now, if I ended up having a girl, it would feel to me like her whole life would be shadowed by the fact that I desperately wanted her to be a boy. And I don't want anything like that to come between the love I give to my child.

Also . . . if I ended up having a girl and then a boy, I cannot say for sure that I would not play favorites. I know it sounds terrible, and I'm not saying that I know for sure that I would--I just want to make sure that I don't have a child that I've got some mental block against loving. If that makes sense. -_-;;

I wouldn't advocate that people [i]should[/i] choose their babies' genders. I'm just saying that for me, personally, it seems like a safer avenue. And I do not intend at all to engineer any other traits. I'm stopping at the gender, and letting my child become who he will be.

There is also the idea, however, that scientists will be able to isolate the genes that cause diabetes and Alzheimer's disease, and others, prolly, that I'm not aware of. As a parent, the best interest of the child dictates that these would be good to eliminate and ensure the health and longevity of the child--but on a larger scale, I hesitate. Humans just aren't supposed to live forever, are we? What's going to happen if we keep pushing back the expiration date of our own mortality?

Scares me, little bit. But if it were possible, chances are I'd want to do it for my child. Nothing could hurt a loving parent more than seeing their children suffer.

[eh luu]

in my opinion, i dont really have a set gender of the baby that i want to have, if i even have any. I dont think i really care if it is a guy or girl, I'll probably love them if they are either... in all honesty..

And if i do have a boy and or girl right after the other, or even twins, i most definately wont play favourites, because i've seen the effects of that, because i am one of those kids who's well not so the favourite.

I suppose in a way, some people would like to have a choice, so they can plan for this baby, i.e. be mentally prepared, create there room etc. In a way i can see the good in that, but it would suck if it came all wrong? you thought you were going to have a baby boy? and you were so prepared... and then it ends up being a girl, then you have to change all of that.

I think right now in my life, i feel that i am inadaquate to make this decision, i am not planning for a kid untill my 20s, and i'd rather much live life and worry about that when i am older, but right now i dont have a set gender.
i could care less ^_^ i am fine with either.

or as your blunt question
Would you choose the sex of your baby? No
also i am extremely tired so i am sorry if some of my writings dont make sense ^^

[wrist cutter]

I want about ten boys to carry on my name. So yes, I would.

[Mitch]

[size=1][color=red] It's late and so when I first saw the title of this thread, I thought it said "Would you chooose to have sex with your baby?" That was a somewhat amusing moment in a sense anyway.

Yes, I would choose the sex of my baby--and I'd make it sexless. A hermaphrodite. Just like the virgin Mary was, I'd make my baby have both of the sexual reproductive organs, both functional, thus allowing my baby to one day inseminate itself and have its own children without ever having to have sex.

I might have the next Jesus Christ on my hands. I'll keep you posted. It really depends on how long I live, and if my darling hermaphrodite has a miscarriage or some other thing.

I expect to be a grandpa soon enough, though.

Thing is, I won't live long enough to see my grandson on the cross.
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[MissWem]

hahahaha...after the two posts before mine I know I'll feel outshadowed by them. Nevertheless this is something I can think of an answer to.

No, I wouldn't want to choose the sex of my baby.
Why should it matter? As long as it looks, eats and acts like a human it must be one.

However, for those who do wouldn't that affect it's gender traits?? I've given this about 10 seconds worth of thought and I wonder if the baby was originally, genetically a male but you change it to be a female or vice versa wouldn't that affect it's general personality?

Would you end up having a slightly unusually feminine boy?
Or perhaps a butch girl?

Although the point of being a parent is to love whatever pops out, kinda like in Aliens 4:p

[No]

[COLOR=DarkOliveGreen][FONT=Franklin Gothic Medium]No...I wouldn't want to. If its healthy and alive. Then no matter what gender it was, if it didn't have a gender then I would still love it no matter what. "I think of it as: I just gave birth to this chilld, its healthy and I brought another being into this world. I will love it and protect it as much as I can."

So...thats my answer. Wow..I was really super blunt. But hey...I'm to the point becuase its 5 AM. Time for bed! [/FONT] [/COLOR]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]At my age the question is a far cry from the kind of feelings that an older person would have, but I'd say no. I wouldn't choose what sex my child would be...and as a parent, how could you fail in anyway to love your child?

If I was older, and had the actual option to, I don't know what I'd do, but I'd feel uncomfortable about choosing, I think.[/size]

[outlawstar69]

[QUOTE=Mitch][size=1][color=red]
Yes, I would choose the sex of my baby--and I'd make it sexless. A hermaphrodite. Just like the virgin Mary was, I'd make my baby have both of the sexual reproductive organs, both functional, thus allowing my baby to one day inseminate itself and have its own children without ever having to have sex.

I might have the next Jesus Christ on my hands. I'll keep you posted. It really depends on how long I live, and if my darling hermaphrodite has a miscarriage or some other thing.

I expect to be a grandpa soon enough, though.

Thing is, I won't live long enough to see my grandson on the cross.
[/size][/color][/QUOTE]


What a coincidence... just yesterday I read a thriller by Dean Kuntz (The Bad Place) that had that very plot line tangle in it. The results of LSD, incest, and self insemination seem to be the key to all of our doom... you aren't planning anything nefarious, are you Mitch?

[DeathBug]

[color=indigo][font=comic sans ms]If the gender of your baby is so important, I question your reasons for having a baby. What ever happened to unconditional love? If you really [b]need[/b] a baby of a particular gender, I think you're being selfish as a parent. I mean, there's already a way to find a child to exactly your physical specification: it's called adoption.

This is one of those "people weren't meant to screw with" areas. China already does this, you know; they have a problem with female infanticide because you only get one kid, and everyone wants a boy.

Do we really want gender distribution among our species to be based on fads and social trends? [/color][/font]

[Semjaza]

I'll admit that if I ever had a kid I'd much rather have a girl... but a baby is a baby. I'd never treat one better than another. I'd probably wind up adopting anyway.

[oshi]

Derelict Destiny, the child would not be restructured in the womb from male to female, or vice versa. It would actually have to do with the sperm, which dictates the child's gender, and which sperm were allowed to inseminate the egg. Thus, aside from letting nature take its course to be randomly male or female, the fetus' traits are not changed.

[keisuke shuuken]

oshi, no lol.
Well, I'd say girl and hope that she'll be an angel not a wild nuisance like I was.

[Boba Fett]

[color=green]I wouldn?t mess with the gender of any of my children, unless I had several of one gender and badly (for whatever reason) wanted another of the opposite gender. Only then would I mess with the gender of any of my unborn children.

In any case, the power to control which gender of will be born is one that could, in obvious ways, drastically change our lives. I'd be willing to bet that, since in some cultures it's preferable to have a boy rather than a girl, any widespread/common use of gender selection would make it very difficult to get a girlfriend, in any case.[/color]

[TOTALIMMORTAL]

I would most definitely never mess with the gender of my baby. It just isn't natural first of all. Science is starting to get outta hand. Soon they'll be able to predetermine the DNA or something and make babies look just how you want them to look. They already have cloning too. I say just have your baby the way it's supposed to turn out. Anyways, if you do [U]plan[/U] on having a child, then you should be so excited to be going through the miracle of birth that it really wouldn't matter whether it's a boy or girl right? You just gotta worry about raising it right....

[Patronus]

No, I wouldn't choose the sex of my child, if I were to reproduce. I don't find it ethical in any way -- maybe for the Chinese who can only bare (bear?) females -- but in the United States, it is unneeded.

Maybe in the future, if over-population is a problem, it could come into play, but I don't think it should now.

[Sephiroth_unite]

Well I only choose that I get one of each, after that it's up to whoever controls the sex of whatever the species that the child is made up of.

[Juu]

[quote name='wrist cutter']I want about ten boys to carry on my name. So yes, I would.[/quote]

[size=1][color=deeppink]Lmao. That's how it'd be in Asia. - .-;

I would never want to pick the sex of my child. I mean, isn't that part of the excitement of having a child? -as DeathBug, Josh, and others have said- 'Unconditional Love'. 'The Giver' just comes to mind, where they just arrange people into family units with one son, one daughter, one mom, and one dad. It's just too... eh.

But already, in China (was it...) one million boys will end up single in ten-twenty years from now.[/size][/color]

[Patronus]

[QUOTE=DerelictDestiny]
However, for those who do wouldn't that affect it's gender traits?? I've given this about 10 seconds worth of thought and I wonder if the baby was originally, genetically a male but you change it to be a female or vice versa wouldn't that affect it's general personality?

Would you end up having a slightly unusually feminine boy?
Or perhaps a butch girl?[/QUOTE]
Not possible. They mess with the gender genes before the gender of the baby is confirmed, which isn't as soon as conception.

[Godelsensei]

[COLOR=Gray][FONT=Courier New][quote name='TOTALIMMORTAL] Anyways, if you do [U]plan[/U'] on having a child, then you should be so excited to be going through the miracle of birth that it really wouldn't matter whether it's a boy or girl right? [/quote]

Unless, of course, you had to be the one who was [i]giving[/i] birth, that is...

I agree with whoever said it (Semjaza, I do believe) that the gender distribution of our planet's population should not be screwed with. It just wouldn't be a good idea for there to be a 10:2 gender ratio, either way. It'd probably lead back to pollygamy(sp? de pon), which would make all the Suffragettes work for not. But that's not the issue at hand.

As for the whole "it's unnatural" argument: I don't really think that to be a valid argument in any debate, so I don't know why I even mentioned it. (Probably because I'm internet starved at the moment, actually...)

I don't think I would change the gender of my baby, if I ever had one. I would, however, get an abortion if I knew it was going to be severely retarded etc... because I doubt I'd be able to care for him/her properly. But, once again, I've gone off on a tangent. (Is it even a tangent? Whatever.)[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Chaos]

[quote name='Leh']Not possible. They mess with the gender genes before the gender of the baby is confirmed, which isn't as soon as conception.[/quote]


Actually it's a chromosome issue. At the right developmental stage a certain chemical signal is sent through the body signifying the growth of male structure, since all vertebrae are inherently female upon conception. =X


I would like the ability to choose the gender of my child. And yes, I would want a son. So much less work to do. :P

And I would like some sort of Gattaca **** where I could prevent hereditary sickness and inherent immunities to known viruses and bacteria. No sense in bringing someone in this world without due protection.

[Gavin]

[SIZE=1]I wouldn't ever go tinkering about with a human life, regardless of whether it's to fix genetic abnormalities or to make sure that they child has hair to match my latest jacket. All life is precious and as such screwing about with it in order to fulfil your own wants is just plain wrong, I could accept that if the child was going to be [b]knowingly[/b] severely disabled then I might find it acceptable. I mean this is your child here, does love even enter the equation for some people ?[/SIZE]

[QUOTE=Mitch][size=1][color=red] Yes, I would choose the sex of my baby--and I'd make it sexless. A hermaphrodite. Just like the Virgin Mary was
[/size][/color][/QUOTE]

[SIZE=1]Hmm well isn't this interesting, Mitch gets all defensive about gay people's rights and then goes off and insults Christian people's religion. You are of course aware Mitch that that statement is offensive to any and all Christians.[/SIZE]

[quote name='Boba Fett][color=green']I'd be willing to bet that, since in some cultures it's preferable to have a boy rather than a girl, any widespread/common use of gender selection would make it very difficult to get a girlfriend, in any case.[/color][/quote]


[SIZE=1]Damn well then I'm just going to have to cling to my current girlfriend and beat off and all competitors with very large sticks. [/SIZE]

[Bio]

[font=Trebuchet MS]Considering overpopulation/underpoulation in certain areas of the world, I can see how deciding the gender of an unborn child could be useful. It could help [in some small way] to stabalize food supply and population among other things. Then again, it would probably be cheaper to simply distribute food than to alter the gender of a fetus.

I [i]suppose [/i]it's alright to choose the gender of your kid if you want a boy or girl [i]that[/i] badly, though it isn't the most admirable thing in the world. You might regret your choice later on.

The only logical reason that I see to alter a child's genes is, like many have said, to prevent diseases.
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