Assisted Sex Selection

Proven Ways to Choose Your Baby's Gender

Part 2

By Virginia Gilbert

*Jill Beck, a 30-year-old mother of three girls, has always wanted a son. She and her husband, a doctor of genetics, went to a Midwestern Sperm Center that uses the Ericsson Method. Beck found "the stress level [of assisted sex selection] to be enormous at times. Particularly charting ovulation cycles, then the semen collection process was not fun, then waiting for a positive pregnancy test, then waiting for the ultrasound to see if it was a boy."

But her efforts paid off quickly: Beck got pregnant on her first attempt. She and her husband are expecting a son in May. Beck has only positive things to say about the staff at her clinic and about head honcho Dr. Ericsson, who she says is very helpful. "I e-mailed him and also got to speak to him, and he was great at answering questions and giving feedback," she says. And here's more good news: The entire process cost Jill only $500.

Before her successful pregnancy at a reproductive clinic, *Anne Kent, a 38-year-old mother to four sons, spent $3,300 at a licensed Ericsson Sperm Center but never conceived.

In 1998, scientists at the Genetics and IVF Institute in Fairfax, Virginia patented a mechanical sperm sorter to help couples conceive a child of their desired gender. Women hoping for a girl may augment the process with Clomid. After the "Xes" and "Ys" are sorted, a procedure called fluorescent in situ hybridization, or FISH, stains individual sperm to determine the amount of the preferred type. Using the MicroSort technology, couples have a 90 to 92 percent chance of getting a girl and a 72 percent chance of getting a boy. The procedure is offered at the GIVF Institute and through collaborating physicians elsewhere. Each attempt costs about $3,200. On the average, couples take three tries to get pregnant.

The medical establishment has touted MicroSort as the cr笥 de la cr笥 of assisted sex selection technology. Because of the buzz and the high success rates, couples now face a six-month wait for MicroSort. Change to: In an article published on the Internet by The Medical Journal of Australia