LookLoveSend Blog

Baby Girl Spring Bloom by Amanda Zoss

Some parents will go through extreme measures to make sure that they can send out pink baby birth announcements when their bundle of joy arrives.  A study of U.S. Google data shows that “how to have a girl” is searched three times more often than “how to have a boy”. Intrigued by this trend of parents thinking pink, the team at LookLoveSend decided to look into the growing practice of baby gender selection. Here’s what we found:

What is the Practice of Gender Selection?

The gender selection business represents a $100 million industry in the U.S. each year. This number expected to grow, according to an in-depth report on the practice recently published by Slate.com.  The procedure of sex selection, technically known in the industry as preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, is euphemistically marketed as ‘family balancing.’ PGD costs about $18,000.

Here is how it works:

1. A human egg is fertilized and then incubated in a lab setting for three days.
2. An embryologist then examines the chromosomes in the resulting embryo to determine whether it is carrying a larger XX pair of chromosomes or a smaller XY pair.
3. If selected, the embryo will be implanted in the client.

Where is it Performed?

This procedure was developed in the early 1990s to screen embryos for chromosome-linked diseases, but countries such as Canada, the U.K. and Australia have since banned its use for non-medical reasons.  The U.S. is, in fact, one of few countries in the world that still allows the practice to occur – with an estimated 4,000-6,000 gender selection procedures performed annually.

Who Elects this Procedure?

The typical patient seeking gender selection services is in her early 30s, educated, married, relatively well-off, and usually already has a couple of kids.

Fertility doctors say that 80% of their gender selection patients are hoping for a girl. Why?  Maybe it’s a yearning for the same mother/daughter bond that the client shared with her own mother?  Perhaps some women feel they can better relate to a baby with a typically feminine temperament and interests?  The only certainty is that this practice is highly personal and will continue to invoke controversy, including criticism as a practice of eugenics.

For making simpler choices in life, look to www.LookLoveSend.com for a wide selection of beautiful baby birth announcements, with fresh designs for girls, boys, or gender neutral options for those of us who really wish to let nature takes its course!  All birth announcement cards (pink or not) can be easily personalized online, will ship the next business day, and offer free shipping for order quantities over 50!