Parents undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Australia may soon be able to choose the gender of their baby to balance the sexes of the children in their family. Current regulations of the country's IVF laws are being reviewed by the government. The review aims to put up guidelines to be followed by Australian fertility clinics.
"We won't allow it with first borns, to avoid serious gender bias, but these parents feel so strongly that they want a third or fourth child that's a different sex that they're prepared to spend a lot of money," said Prof. Ian Olver, as per news.com.au. Olver is the chairman of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) review panel.
Gender selection could be available to Australian parents with proposed changes to IVF laws https://t.co/iVrkRrLi2C pic.twitter.com/PEvQjQ996p
— LifeStyle Channel (@LifeStyleTV) July 26, 2016
Cultural And Racial Reasons Not Viable For Choosing Baby's Gender
ABC.net reported that the parents undergoing IVF would be prohibited from choosing the gender of their baby if their reasons are cultural or racial. Choosing the gender would reportedly also be banned for the first or second baby, except for medical reasons.
As quoted in the report, IVF Australia senior fertility expert Michael Chapman said"about 100 women a year in a population of something like 45,000 women go through IVF each year" seek to choose the gender of their baby. However, many couples are said to be going overseas and "putting themselves at risk" just to be able to choose the gender of their baby and face risks in the process.
Proposal Allowing Baby Gender Selection To Face Ethics Committee
After the review by the NHMRC panel, the proposal will still have to go through the Australian Health Ethics Committee and the NHMRC, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The recommendations of the panel may not be made public until next year, the report added.
"I don't think as an ethics committee anyone wants to promote any sort of gender biasing," said Prof. Olver. Olver added that the panel is considering different opinions on the issue. The Australian Health Ethics Committee will consider the panel's recommendations next month.
