A “balanced family” is one with equal numbers of male and female children. Many parents feel a strong desire to complete their families with the addition of a son or a daughter. Technologies exist that can determine the gender of an embryo, prior to implantation/pregnancy. This program is referred to as “Family Balancing.”
The woman undergoes an IVF (in vitro fertilization) cycle in order to obtain eggs from her ovaries which are then fertilized with her husband’s sperm. The resulting embryos are tested to determine if they are chromosomally normal, and this information also determines whether each embryo is male or female. Embryos are tested before being transferred into the woman’s uterus, therefore the gender is known prior to the start of a pregnancy. Family balancing is performed using the technology called Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). PGD is a widely accepted method for determining genetic information on embryos, including gender. PGD must be done in the context of IVF.