Top IVF doctor defends helping parents pick babies’ sex
Sex selection superdoc
A US pioneer of pre-implantation genetic
diagnosis (PGD) has defended sex selection, saying that it is “not playing
God”, but rather is “studying God’s work and learning from it.” Dr Jeffrey
Steinberg runs fertility clinics in New York and Los Angeles. He told the Daily Record (Scotland) that many couples who come to his clinics do so
because sex selection is banned in their home countries, including Scotland.
Dr Steinberg helps around 100 Britons
select the sex of their baby each year, and that 79 percent of his patients are
from outside the US. The procedure costs about £13,000 (US$21,000). Dr Steinberg’s Fertility
Institutes are the world’s largest program for sex selection.
“We’re not playing God. What we’re
doing is studying God’s work, studying his creations and learning from it. We
don’t make boys or girls, the couples do that.”
The process can be very financially
draining, but Dr Steinberg is determined to help couples who come to the
clinics. He says: “Sometimes the family call and say they’re 80 per cent
of the way there with the money but the wife is getting older and they fear
they’re running out of time. We say fine, just come. We do an occasional free
case too. Some people are concerned about costs. Others come out and end up
staying in the finest hotels in Beverly Hills.” ~ Scottish Daily Record, July 29
Jared Yee
IVF
PGD
sex selection
More Stories
BioEdge has closed its doors
After 23 years, BioEdge ceased published in May 2024. Not that there isn't lots to report on and talk about,...
How liberal are American bioethicists?
There is growing acknowledgement of the fact that the backgrounds, ideas, and politics of American academics are out of step...
Doctors can be socialized to cooperate in morally despicable evil, says bioethicist
Bioethicist Carl Elliott seems to relish stirring up fellow bioethicists and the medical profession. In his latest book, The Occasional Human...
3 sperm donors from same family in Quebec have sired 600 children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children by offering free sperm on the...
American IVF clinics are happily offering sex selection
The United States is one of the few countries where IVF sex selection is legal – and it is a...
Owner of castration website in UK found guilty of grievous bodily harm
“Enhancement” normally connotes adding powers beyond normal human functioning. However, there are dark kinds of enhancement which remove them. A...