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I recently read of a study that investigated the ethics of child's biological sex choice in humans, and now I want to find out how this can/could be done. Does anyone know of scientific papers or journals that describe the methods in some detail? The answers I was finding in my own search were not as specific as I would like.

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closed as unclear what you're asking by rg255, user137, Cornelius, James, J. Musser Dec 5 '14 at 23:24

Please clarify your specific problem or add additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it’s hard to tell exactly what you're asking. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

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    $\begingroup$ Do you mean sex selection? Keep in mind that gender and sex are not the same thing. If you mean gender then I think that this question is more suited to the cognitive sciences SE. $\endgroup$ – gravityassist Dec 4 '14 at 15:53
  • $\begingroup$ Yes you are right, I mean sex selection. $\endgroup$ – lovesgenetics27 Dec 4 '14 at 16:57
  • $\begingroup$ I mean that there is research involving giving couples the ability to choose whether their baby will be male or female. $\endgroup$ – lovesgenetics27 Dec 4 '14 at 17:00
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    $\begingroup$ The article you read had to do with ethics. So are you interested in ethics or in science? Are you interested in the methods that offer couples the opportunity to choose the sex of their baby or are you interest in how some species manage to chose the sex of their baby (which is particularly the case when there is environmental sex determination (ESD)). This wikipedia article might be a good start. $\endgroup$ – Remi.b Dec 4 '14 at 17:01
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    $\begingroup$ Ok, so you are looking for a review (in a peer reviewed journal or not I suppose) of the methodologies that can be used for parents to chose the sex of their offspring, is that right?. You maybe want to make clear in your question that you are looking for a list of methodologies. The question is interesting (I am totally ignorant in the subject). I just wonder whether wikipedia is not already a very good source of information given how broad is your interest. $\endgroup$ – Remi.b Dec 4 '14 at 17:18
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The main technique is sperm separation or sorting, where you separate sperm by gender, and only use the gender that you want. Existing techniques aren't perfect. AFAIK, they are typically less than 90% accurate, but it is still better than 50%. Typically, this involves some type of cell sorting device often with some kind of fluorescent tag marker.

The second technique is embryo screening. Often, with IVF, you screen and can confirm the gender that you want before implanting the embryo in the mother.

Links:

http://www.fertility-docs.com/programs-and-services/gender-selection/select-the-gender-of-your-baby-using-pgd.php

http://www.in-gender.com/Gender-Selection/MicroSort/

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