On choosing a baby's sex: what the future generation thinks, a preliminary survey.

The new biomedical techniques of reproduction, such as predetermination of a baby's sex, are gradually being initiated into formal practice in some countries such as Britain. This paper surveyed the attitudes of 60 academic and 60 nonacademic men and women between 18 and 20 years on whether they supported the idea of choosing a baby's sex. More than 75% of all participants rejected the idea of choosing a baby's sex, whilst only 20% agreed with the latter issue and a negligible number (4%) offered no opinion. Neither sex differences nor differences between academic/nonacademic population were significant. The results are discussed in relation to recent work on differences in attitudes between genders in academic and nonacademic settings.