Can I choose the Gender of the baby?
Yes, you may opt for gender selection during the Surrogacy process if gender selection is permitted in the location to which you are entering your Surrogacy agreement.
In reference to a study by the International Federation of Fertility Societies Surveillance 2010, gender selection by either sperm sorting techniques and/or embryo biopsy is allowed by statute in only 15 countries, not permissible in 43 and not even mentioned in law in 15, but is practiced by one or both methods in 26 countries out of the 105 countries surveyed.
Gender selection is obtainable through two methods for Intended Parents whose desire is to select the gender of the embryo enticed in their fertility treatment.
The sex chromosome originating in the sperm is the influential factor for gender. The first method is an experimental sperm-sorting technique, called MicroSort. Unsuitably, methods to sort X (female) from Y (male) sperm are still imprecise due to limited parameters in current technology.
The second method is using IVF and PGD (Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis)
Myth of Gender Selection
Certain techniques employed by you and your partner help you conceive a boy or girl.
Fact of Gender Selection
It is NOT possible to reliably select the sex of a baby through means of conceiving naturally. It is possible to escalate the likelihood of having a boy or girl through sperm sorting prior to artificial insemination. The only methodology to be certain of choosing the desired gender is enabled embryo screening prior to transfer of IVF treatment,
however, many countries do not allow this method to be used for preferential gender
selection, it is primarily for preventing sex-related genetic defects.
How does Gender Selection work?
Before the transfer of embryos gender selection can be defined by means of the second technique, Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD).
Most clinics in the US and other countries will
not use this technique for gender preference selection and will only be
permitted if the parents are trying to avoid a inherited genetic defect.
This intensive process implicates the analysis of embryos during the developing stages of being transferred to the IVF dish. On Day 3, the fertilized egg reaches the 8 cell embryo stage and one cell is detached for testing.
This chromosomal analysis allows determination to advise if the embryo is male or female. When a Y (male) chromosome is existent, it specifies that the gender of the embryo is male. The embryos of the desired selected gender are prepared for transfer.
Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis generates 99% accurateness for gender selection compared to 73-85% for sperm sorting.
Resources:
Infertility Network https://www.infertilitynetwork.org/files/IFFS_Surveillance_2010.pdf
Choose a Gender http://chooseagender.com/methods-of-gender-selection.aspx