feedback for "Pick a Sex, Any Sex"

1. Guess what, parents? You might be able to afford to choose a gender, but you can't choose who your child is in the end. A mother doesn't want a girl because she herself is a tomboy? Ugh. That's just pathetic.
   
   I pity the poor boy who is born to parents who only want a boy- he'd better live up to all the expectations of his parents, or they might send him back.
   
   I fully agree with the expert who said this kind of choosing indicates emotional immaturity. If you are that hung up on your own ideals, please, don't be a parent at all!

   posted by : WSP on 8/14/2008 at 3:28 PM Flag For Abuse

2. Oh man, you should have seen my Mom's reaction when I wanted to wear a tux to prom instead of a dress. I've seen two year olds handle stress with more maturity.
   
   I'm the only girl of a bunch of boys and it's clearly obvious to me that my Mom has a lot in common with the women mentioned in this article. She wanted a girly girl to dress in pink and shared womanly experiences with. Instead, she got me.
   
   I sincerely hope the woman who payed $10,000 for a girl also gets someone like me. It sounds like a life lesson she's in need of.

   posted by : haha on 8/14/2008 at 3:29 PM Flag For Abuse

3. I agree with WSP, the ideals parents like this are asking for go far beyond just the sex of their baby. They have a stereotype of what that gender will be like, therefore wanting to choose the characteristics of their child - even if they say they are not. I am sure if personality trait pickers were available they would go with that too.
   
   Heck...why don't they just go down to the discovery store and buy a robot.

   posted by : anon on 8/14/2008 at 5:00 PM Flag For Abuse

4. I think all those homemade and semi-scientific techniques are just bogus! Of course, parents for whom it didn't work out will not write a testimony. Even with doing nothing, you still have a 50% chance of getting it right, people! It reminds me of all the dumb tricks everyone told me to use when I was trying to get pregnant for a while... When it finally worked, they all thought it was their thing that made the difference. No it was not, it was just pure and simple biology, and the odds that if you try long enough, it will probably end up working...

   posted by : Marie Eve on 8/15/2008 at 9:09 AM Flag For Abuse

5. LOL @ Haha..My sister also had a gorgeous little girl, who instead of playing with barbies, insisted on telling everyone proudly "I'm not a girly girl!"...and proceeded to hang off monkey bars..lol
   
   I for one always wanted a girl. I mean I really wanted a girl. I just did not think I could have a great connection with a boy kid.
   Needless to say, I fell pregnant with my first child last year and was told I was having a girl. Boy, was I thrilled!
   All of a sudden my feelings changed. I was absolutely disgusted by the sight of pink & anything girly. I painted the nursery a turquoise color & bought a blue cot for my "girl"..Everyone thought I was losing my mind! Don't get me wrong, I was still very happy to have a girl, but the typical princess stuff, turned me off big time.
   Anyway, fast forward to my 32 week ultrasound and what do you know...my baby was now a BOY! I was in a state of shock,but so happy to hear my baby was healthy. Either way, I think that is all you can hope for.
   Now my boy is 4 months old, and I can't imagine my life without him! He is the coolest little fella and we get on famously.
   Looking back, I think how ridiculous I was being hoping for a girl. Letting God bless you with a lovely, healthy, happy child, is all that matters. Whatever package it comes in.
   Picking the gender, is just messing with nature IMO.

   posted by : BIGMAMA on 8/16/2008 at 6:01 PM Flag For Abuse

6. I think it's totally natural for parents to want to experience both having a son and having a daughter. It's part of a very normal desire to experience the full gamut of human experience. I happen to have both a brother and sister, and I loved the richness and nuance of both relationships growing up. I also, as luck would have it, have a mother and father. The perspective of each sex is a little different from the other, and that's part of the beautiful complexity of the world. I now have two sons, and I would love to have a daughter -- isn't that perfectly natural?
   
   Having a preference -- and even doing something about it -- doesn't mean that you are not, or would not be, grateful for having a healthy child, irrespective of the sex.
   
   My wife and I will probably look into the options for making sure our third child is a girl ... we may or may not do anything about it, we'll see, but I think all this judgment is misplaced. Every time technology takes a step forward, luddites cry foul, claiming that we shouldn't be interfering with the natural way of things. But a generation later -- provided that the technology has no adverse consequences -- it's no longer an issue.

   posted by : chattydaddy on 8/18/2008 at 2:46 PM Flag For Abuse

7. We decided we didn't want to know whether our baby was a boy or girl. When the ultrasound was done, we were just so happy to see that our baby appeared healthy and was growing as predicted that we weren't concerned about anything else. Our child is a great kid, and I can't imagine gender changing our opinion of this individual we are happy to be the parents of!

   posted by : Mme X on 8/18/2008 at 11:20 PM Flag For Abuse

8. well, sometimes there are medical reasons for gender preference...

   posted by : botanist on 8/19/2008 at 11:57 PM Flag For Abuse

9. botanist, when is there ever a medical reason for gender preference.
   Which brings me to a peeve. Gender does not equal sex. (easy guide: Sex is what you have between your legs. Gender is what you want between your legs. Sexuality is who you want between your legs.)
   Personally, I wanted a girl because I want to raise a kick ass gamer girl, and we lucked out and got a girl. Are we raising her to be a girly girl? Hell no. The pink things she has have skulls on them, and I buy her little boy stuff just as much as, if not more than, little girl stuff. I can't wait for some of those boys who are chosen because their dads are such "manly" men to turn out gay, if not at least a little femmy. My cousin's husband is a football coach, his son? Loves playing with his sister's bratz dolls. Picking sex is not what these people want. They want to choose a very distinct gendered personality.

   posted by : Bubbles on 8/20/2008 at 1:20 AM Flag For Abuse

10. Thanks for this article - you nailed the issues. For lots more on the concerns and qualms that sex selection raises, take a look at the collection of news articles and blog posts (including a pointer to this piece) here:
    http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?list=type&type=29
    
    - Marcy Darnovsky
    Center for Genetics and Society

    posted by : Marcy Darnovsky on 8/25/2008 at 8:28 PM Flag For Abuse

11. I understand wanting to have one gender over the other, but actually paying thousands of dollars to make sure that you conceive the "right gender child" is way too extreme in my opinion. As a mother of 2 boys, I'd be lying to say that I wouldn't like to have a girl, but I'm not about to play God and take such extreme action. Children are blessings and all we can hope for is that they are healthy; their sex should not make a difference in the long run to the parents. There are so many couples who are unable to conceive a child, and then to hear that there are people out there throwing money around to make sure that they have a boy instead of a girl or vice versa, is disgusting.

    posted by : Bogie78 on 8/27/2008 at 8:58 PM Flag For Abuse

12. Hey Bubbles - any disease carried on the Y chromosome would be a medical reason for gender selection. Duchenne muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, or Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease to name a few.
    
    What I find fascinating is that the arguments against gender selection are identical to those against birth control back in the day. Accept what God gave you. Don't try and control nature. If you can't be happy with what you get, you shouldn't be having kids...

    posted by : see1234 on 8/28/2008 at 12:09 PM Flag For Abuse

13. I am a mom of 4 boys, and I really want one more baby- hopefully a girl. When I heard about the Boy Gender Diet, I immediately bought it. Boygirldiet.com has proven clinical research that diet strongly effects gender of the next baby. I was on the diet for 2 months, I am now 8 weeks pregnant. I am so excited to have this baby, boy or girl...but I just know it's a GIRL ;) I few more weeks for my ultrasound and I will know for sure!

    posted by : Mommm24 on 9/4/2008 at 6:54 AM Flag For Abuse

14. I am married to my husband for 6 years. we have 1 boy and 1 girl. I'm pregnant with our 3rd child and we just had a sonogram done and we are told we're having a another boy! we are thrilled! my husband is thrilled because he wanted to have 3 boys. at least he has 2 :0) but i bought this diet that is stricly to concieve a boy from this website called www.boygirldiet.com i followed it religously. i'm just so happy that i gave my husband another boy! :0)

    posted by : irish mom on 10/10/2008 at 9:42 AM Flag For Abuse