Browne Tamara Kayali
School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Locked Bag 20000, Geelong, VIC, 3220, Australia.
School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Education, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia.
J Bioeth Inq. 2017 Jun;14(2):195-204. doi: 10.1007/s11673-017-9783-z. Epub 2017 Mar 15.
Non-medical sex selection is premised on the notion that the sexes are not interchangeable. Studies of individuals who undergo sex selection for non-medical reasons, or who have a preference for a son or daughter, show that they assume their child will conform to the stereotypical roles and norms associated with their sex. However, the evidence currently available has not succeeded in showing that the gender traits and inclinations sought are caused by a "male brain" or a "female brain". Therefore, as far as we know, there is no biological reason why parents cannot have the kind of parenting experience they seek with a child of any sex. Yet gender essentialism, a set of unfounded assumptions about the sexes which pervade society and underpin sexism, prevents parents from realising this freedom. In other words, unfounded assumptions about gender constrain not only a child's autonomy, but also the parent's. To date, reproductive autonomy in relation to sex selection has predominantly been regarded merely as the freedom to choose the sex of one's child. This paper points to at least two interpretations of reproductive autonomy and argues that sex selection, by being premised on gender essentialism and/or the social pressure on parents to ensure their children conform to gender norms, undermines reproductive autonomy on both accounts.
非医学性别选择的前提是认为男女不可互换。对因非医学原因进行性别选择或偏爱儿子或女儿的个体的研究表明，他们认为自己的孩子会符合与其性别相关的刻板角色和规范。然而，目前可得的证据并未成功表明所追求的性别特征和倾向是由“男性大脑”或“女性大脑”导致的。因此，就我们所知，没有生物学上的理由表明父母不能与任何性别的孩子获得他们所期望的育儿体验。然而，性别本质主义，即一套毫无根据的关于性别的假设，在社会中普遍存在并构成性别歧视的基础，阻碍了父母实现这种自由。换句话说，关于性别的毫无根据的假设不仅限制了孩子的自主权，也限制了父母的自主权。迄今为止，与性别选择相关的生殖自主权主要仅被视为选择孩子性别的自由。本文指出了生殖自主权的至少两种解释，并认为性别选择基于性别本质主义和/或父母面临的确保孩子符合性别规范的社会压力，在这两方面都损害了生殖自主权。
