Preconception sex selection demand and preferences in the United States.

OBJECTIVE

Preconception sex selection for nonmedical reasons raises important moral, legal, and social issues. The main concern is based upon the assumption that a widely available service for sex selection will lead to a socially disruptive imbalance of the sexes. For a severe sex ratio distortion to occur, however, at least two conditions have to be met. First, there must be a significant preference for children of a particular sex, and second, there must be a considerable interest in employing sex selection technology. Our objective was to ascertain such demand and preferences among the United States general population.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional web-based survey.

SETTING

United States general population.

PATIENT(S): One thousand one hundred ninety-seven men and women aged 18 to 45 years.

INTERVENTION(S): None.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Web-based questionnaire assessing preferences for sex of children and demand for preconception sex selection for nonmedical reasons.

RESULT(S): Eight percent of respondents would use preconception sex selection technology, 74% were opposed, and 18% were undecided. If the sex selection process was simplified to taking a pill, 18% would be willing to use such a medication, 59% were opposed, and 22% were undecided. In terms of gender choices, 39% of respondents would like their first child to be a son, 19% would like their first child to be a daughter, and 42% had no preference. Overall, 50% wished to have a family with an equal number of boys and girls, 7% with more boys than girls, 6% with more girls than boys, 5% with only boys, 4% with only girls, and 27% had no preference.

CONCLUSION(S): Preconception sex selection technology via sperm separation is unlikely to be used by the majority of the United States population and is unlikely to have a significant impact on the natural sex ratio.