Running Head: GENDER SELECTION? SOUNDS MORE LIKE SEXISM

Gender selection: Sounds more like sexism?

Salma Abaza

57796

The American University of Sharjah

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Running Head: GENDER SELECTION? SOUNDS MORE LIKE SEXISM

Abstract

This research discusses the issue of gender selection in the Arab world. The procedure

has recently been introduced to the region; however, its popularity is growing due to

its high demand. Studies have shown that families choose to use gender selection for

three main reasons, which include: prevention of gender-linked diseases, preference

towards a certain gender, family balancing. Due to an increased number of gender

selective operations occurring, the sex ratio in many different regions of the world has

been greatly distorted. Experts have explained the high sex ratio by stating that there

are many countries with a preference for sons. This high sex ratio can have many

negative impacts on society, which will be further discussed throughout the piece.

These impacts raise the question of whether or not this procedure should be banned?

Many experts have spoken out for both sides of the issue, and some societies have

already banned the procedure.

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GENDER SELECTION? SOUNDS MORE LIKE SEXISM

Introduction

Have you ever felt that women in the Middle East are outnumbered by men

(Clawson, 2009, para. 4)? If you have, then what you’re seeing is nothing compared

to what you’ll see in 5, 10, or 20 years from now. If you haven’t felt a difference

between the number of women and men, then just wait and see the results of many

studies and experiments in this field. By now, you’re probably wondering how this

could even occur since there’s always a 50-50 chance in conceiving a female or a

male. This outcome is due to the advances in technology, which have managed to

skew with the natural course of bringing a child into this world. The Center for

Human Reproduction (2014) defines gender selection (GS) as the “fertility procedure

used to choose the gender of a baby prior to conception” (para. 1). Many families are

taking advantage of this new trend, they see it as an opportunity brought forth them.

They undergo this procedure without taking the large-scale impacts of their decision

into consideration. Even though GS hasn’t been done in all countries around the

world, it is not long before many of those countries take part of this technology.

Countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada have banned sex selection unless

it was for a medical reason, such as a gender-linked disease (Clarke, 2009, para. 6;

Adams, 2012, para. 5). On the contrary, Middle Eastern countries, specifically the

UAE, are embracing this technology and providing it to any family who seeks to have

a child of their preferred gender (Al Hameli, 2014, p. 1). Studies have shown that 3

out of 4 Emirati couples seek gender selection every month (p. 1). Many authors and

experts have explained their concern due to the irrecoverable impacts that could occur

if this technology keeps advancing. Parents in the Middle East should not be able to

select the gender of their child due to a high sex ratio, increased crime rates, and

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discrimination against a certain gender (“Gender and Genetics,” n.d., para. 3; Levy,

2007, para. 8).

How does it work?

The development of sex selection was created due to the advances in assisted

reproductive technology (ART). According to the Center for Human Reproduction

(2015), there are only two main methods for how families could select the gender of

their child. The first method is Microsort, which is no longer used; and the second

method that is currently being used nowadays is preimplantation genetic diagnosis

(PGD) alongside in vitro fertilization (IVF). Microsort is also known as sperm

sorting; it is the process that “separates the sperm cells in a semen sample” to obtain

the desired gender (para. 6). This process is not used anymore (para. 1) since it only

has an approximated 90% success rate with female embryos, and an estimated 85%

success rate with male embryos (para. 6). The current procedure being used by most

physicians around the world, especially in the Middle East, involves a two-step

process of IVF followed by PGD (para. 1). IVF collects the female’s egg and the

male’s sperm and then fertilizes them for the following steps in the procedure (“In

Vitro Fertilization,” 2014, para. 1). The next step called PGD is the procedure that

selects the sex of the child, and the procedure that allows the physician to identify the

embryos with diseases; this is used to differentiate between the embryos that will be

implanted in the mother (“Gender Selection,” 2014, para.3; “Preimplantation Genetic

Diagnosis,” 2014, para. 1). PGD is particularly beneficial in cases where families

have gender-related diseases, which is why it is necessary for them to undergo sex

selection (“Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis,” 2014, para. 2). Moreover, it is also

important for families without sex-linked diseases who want to conceive a child of

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their preferred gender because this process is the most efficient in helping families

conceive their desired gender, and it eliminates the chances of any child with an

illness (para. 3). Despite the fact that there are two different ways for gender

selection, having a successful procedure requires extremely deliberate care. For this

purpose, all physicians are required to run certain tests on their patients in order to

guarantee the favorable outcome.

Argument on sex ratio

Researches and experiments have shown that an increase in sex selection

leads to an imbalance between the genders, thus, altering with society’s norm of an

almost equal sex ratio (Hesketh & Xing, 2006, para. 8). An article written by Neil

Levy (2007) explains that the cause of a high sex ratio is the “product of a strong

preference for male offspring” (para. 4). He states that in 1996 China had a sex ratio

of 121 boys for every hundred girls; Levy also refers to Amartya Sen’s argument on

how over 100 million women were “missing” from Asia (Levy, 2007, para. 4). Many

authors also agree that the high sex ratio is due to a preference of sons (Morris, 2013,

para. 1; Baird, 2013, p. 2; Hesketh & Xing, 2006, para. 7). Studies have shown that

the desire to have sons rather than daughters is due to cultural preferences and family

traditions (Baird, 2013, p. 2). The advances in assisted reproductive technology have

raised the sex ratios in many countries around the world. The United Nations’

estimated sex ratio in 2011 for countries is displayed below (pp. 79-84):

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GENDER SELECTION? SOUNDS MORE LIKE SEXISM

Number of males for every 100 females

Afghanistan 107 Oman

Andorra 109 Pakistan

Bahrain 167 Palau

Bangladesh 102 Peru

Bhutan 113 Qatar

Brunei 102 Samoa

Faeroe Islands 108 Saudi Arabia

Guyana 101 Solomon Islands

Jordan 106 United Arab Emirates

Kuwait 148 Western Sahara

Libya 101 World

It is evident that the Middle Eastern countries display higher sex ratios relative to

other countries that use sex selection. This trend is currently growing at an increasing

rate in many parts of the world, studies show that the sex ratio will only continue to

grow, thus, leading to the rarity of women (Baird, 2013, p.1). Beliefs on how sons are

better investments than daughters, and that women are inferior to men show how

corrupt and sexist the world still is. Furthermore, many authors and experts

specialized in sex-related studies agree that the consequences to be faced due to an

excess in the number of males are generally negative.

Arguments on the impact of GS

The high sex ratio nowadays has been associated with the increase in SS, but

recent studies have found that societies with higher ratios are also “disproportionately

violent societies” (Levy, 2007, para. 8). Violence in these societies includes a higher

tendency to engage in crimes and anti-social activities. According to Monica Sharma

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GENDER SELECTION? SOUNDS MORE LIKE SEXISM

(2008), the author of a very interesting piece on sex selection, claims that these

unacceptable acts of violence include; rape, sex trafficking, kidnapping and war (para.

19) The effects of these crimes on society generally negative since they all result in

harm towards an innocent member of society. However, it is safe to say that a crime

still accounts for a crime regardless of how large it’s effects are on the population.

Levy (2007) believes that this is due to the association of aggression with masculinity;

this is one of the many reasons as to why we need to maintain an almost equal sex

ratio (para. 8). Having an excess of either gender will have a negative impact on

society, and in this case, the imbalance between males and females leads to an

increased crime rate. A high sex ratio shows that the effects of SS are not created

when only one family engages in the procedure, but it is when a large group of

families undergo it. This is one of the many reasons why governments all over the

world need to regulate the advances in gender-selective technologies, because parents

should not be able to easily access such operations.

One of the other impacts of sex selection is discrimination against a certain

gender (“Sex Selection and Discrimination,” n.d., para. 3). Most people residing in the

Middle East would generally agree that men are considered to be more superior than

women in this region. This mentality is also present in many Eastern Asian countries

such as India and China, however, studies have shown that there was no specific

gender being preferred in Western communities (Levy, 2007, para. 12-13).

Researches show that SS promotes discrimination, which could have many side

effects on a person’s peace of mind. When a person is constantly being treated as

mediocre, they eventually start to engage in harmful activities as a response to these

deteriorating manners. Experts have found a relation between gender discrimination

and increase levels of drug use (Rho & Choi, 2010, para. 18). A society is composed

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GENDER SELECTION? SOUNDS MORE LIKE SEXISM

of men and women; it is impossible to have a successful society with only one gender.

The bitter feud between society and men against women must come to an end. To

create a life, a man and a woman are needed for the process. How do people expect an

expansion in population to occur if there is a limited number of women present to

carry the child?

Religious aspect of SS

The morality and ethicality of GS has caused an open-ended and undetermined

debate. Families engage in SS for many different reasons that include: family

balancing, desire for a specific sex, and to avoid gender-linked diseases. The issue of

GS can be perceived differently by many societies due to cultural differences; the

procedure’s occurrence in the Middle East has raised many people’s awareness on this

topic. Muslim scholars have spoken out about each of those reasons and they have

provided the public with the Islamic view on SS. Since there was no technology that

allowed GS when the holy Qur’an was created, the Islamic Fiqh council has set their

rules on IVF and PGD while keeping Qur’anic values in mind. They have permitted

the use IVF to take place, but only between married couples; they strictly prohibited

the following (Zahraa & Shafie, 2006, p. 162-163):

1. Fertilization of the egg of a woman with a sperm that does not belong to her

husband to be implanted in her.

2. Fertilization of the sperm of a man with an egg that does not belong to his wife

to be implanted in his wife.

3. Fertilization of the egg and a sperm of a married couple to be implanted in a

surrogate.

4. Fertilization between an unmarried couple’s egg and sperm to be implanted in

a married woman’s womb.

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GENDER SELECTION? SOUNDS MORE LIKE SEXISM

5. Fertilization between a married couple’s egg and sperm to be implanted in a

married woman’s womb.

They have justified their reasons for these rules according to the Islamic view of

confused lineage and it’s linkage to adultery (p. 163). Due to the multiple functions of

PGD, the Islamic council has set their regulations based on the reason for it. They

have given their permission for families to use PGD to prevent gender-linked diseases

from being carried on to their unborn child (p. 164). Many experts also accept this

reason since it threatens the child’s well being. Families who face a large-scale

transmission process are usually forced to use GS as a precaution to avoid future

harm. However, the Muslim scholars have restricted the use of PGD for the use of

genetic manipulation (p. 165). They have also prohibited the use of IVF and PGD to

select a baby’s gender for any cause other than preventing a disease (p. 179). The

rules of GS have been set in terms of religion; Muslim couples should think about

whether or not conceiving a child of their desired sex is more valuable then following

their religious paths. Also, countries in the Middle East should prohibit these services

considering that Islam is the dominating religion in this region.

Counterargument on SSA

 Many proponents of GS argue that it reduces the tendency to engage in sex

selective abortion (SSA) (Robertson, 2003, para. 37). SSA is defined as the procedure

that “involves the identification of the foetus’s sex during the pregnancy using pre-

natal diagnosis, followed by abortion of the foetus if it proves to be of the undesired

sex” (Saharso, 2011, p. 251). Even though sex selection may decrease the number of

abortions occurring, it does not justify either procedure since they both lack morality.

Despite the fact that SS and SSA are driven by the same force, which is the preference

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of a certain gender, they are still two different approaches to dealing with the same

problem. SS is a pre-natal method used in order to conceive the desired gender, while

SSA is a post-natal method that terminates the life of a foetus if it is not the preferred

sex. Relating both controversial issues is a petty excuse to undergo an operation that

promotes discrimination. Although saving the life of a foetus by changing its sex

rather than terminating its life may seem less unethical, why should families go to

such extreme measures just to obtain their desired sex? SSA is a questionable

procedure, based on ethical grounds, because it is used due to a strong preference of a

certain sex. A reduction in it is a positive effect that is resulted from sex selection, but

it is does not justify either gender-selective methods. As Thomas Stephen Szasz

(2015), a professor of psychiatry, once said, “[t]wo wrongs don't make a right, but

they make a good excuse”.

Counterargument on women’s values

Another very common claim mentioned by many supporters of sex selection

explains that the high sex ratio will increase a woman’s value. They argue that the

rarity and scarcity of women will raise their social status, thus, they will “benefit from

their enhanced value” (Hesketh & Xing, 2006, para. 21). Experts such as Neil Levy,

Therese Hesketh, Zhu Wei Xing, and many more, refuted that argument by claiming

that the scarcity of women will only increase her value as a commodity “to be traded

and to be controlled by her male relatives” (Levy, 2007, para. 7). Another expert also

argues that the decrease in women will lead to increased sex trafficking (Baird, 2013,

p. 1). All studies are in agreement to the fact that a high sex ratio will lead to a great

loss in a woman’s value in society. Also, this would promote a male dominance in

society because the lack of women will make them inferior to men. This procedure

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would also waste the endless efforts of many powerful woman that have worked so

much to encourage woman rights all over the world.

Counterargument on freedom

One of the main points that many people argue when it comes to banning any

action that takes place in society is freedom. Freedom is one of the many words which

holds a different meaning to whomever uses it; despite the word’s meaning to society,

the Oxford dictionary defines freedom as “[t]he power or right to act, speak, or think

as one wants” . What we, as humans, want is to have our idealistic and moral beliefs

to be implemented in society’s everyday activities; however, due to an incredibly

large amount of people, this is would be nearly impossible to achieve. After all, each

person has their own opinion on every aspect occurring, and this opinion may not

always match that of their peers or colleagues. In terms of SS, many families believe

that they should be given the right to engage in what they desire, since the matter

won’t affect anyone outside of the family (McCarthy, 2001, para. 5). The

consequence that these people usually tend to ignore is the overall effect; one family

engaging in this procedure is hardly going to affect the sex ratio, but the issue begins

when many families start to take on the trend. Everyone believes in freedom, but is it

really freedom when families engage in an action which could affect other people

later on. The negative results that arise from gender selection are quite severe, and as

previously mentioned; sex trafficking, rape, and crime rates have all increased with

the high sex ratio (Sharma, 2008, para.19). Some families may not consider these

impacts since it does not directly harm them, but at the rate of which SS is going, it is

not long before other negative impacts arise. People should start to consider the full

significance of their actions; is having a child of your preferred gender really worth

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unintentionally harming members of society? Should those innocent people not have

the freedom of living without an increased crime rate? When it comes to such a

controversial topic, all impacts should be accounted for when deciding whether or not

to ban this action; in this case, the negatives outweigh the positives. At the end of the

day, a family’s aim should be to have a healthy child and not a child of their desired

gender.

Conclusion

Gender selection has caused an endless debate between whether or not it

should be regulated. Based on the results showed throughout the piece, SS has many

negative impacts on society and it could lead to irrecoverable damages if families

continue using it at the current rate. The preference of sons that takes place in Middle

Eastern region, and many other countries, has pushed families to use such procedures.

Studies have shown that advances in gender-selective technologies will continue to

increase the sex ratio unless regulations are put forth. Banning sex selection all over

the world seems to be the most ideal solution, unless it was needed for a family with

sex-linked diseases. A worldwide ban would show people how severe this issue

actually is, it may even change society’s view on females. Overall, the topic deals

with many different aspects that affect any person’s daily life. These artificial

technologies are altering with the natural course of life, which is why they should be

permanently prohibited.

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