Gender Selection with IVF: Treatment Details & Cost
Many couples, for various reasons and beliefs, wish to select the sex of their next child. Amazingly, scientific advances allow gender selection of future children to be done with near 100% accuracy. But what exactly is it going to take to choose the sex of your next child and what exactly does gender selection cost? Table of Contents Fast Facts About Gender and Sex Selection How Does Gender Selection Work? Detailed Steps of IVF Gender Selection How much does Gender Selection cost? The Bottom Line Fast Facts About Gender and Sex Selection Gender selection is also widely known as sex selection with the two terms being used exchangeably. It may also be referred to as family balancing as some people choose to do it to have a child of a specific sex after having many children of the other. There are two main methods of gender selection though only one is widely accepted and used by the reproductive medical community today. There are other alternative theories involving diet and other modalities, though these have no scientific backing and should not be taken seriously until proven so. Sex selection is possible because males and females have different sex chromosome combinations. Females have an XX chromosome pair and males have an XY chromosome. Being able to selectively choose sperm that contain a desired X or Y chromosome or embryos containing either XX or XY chromosome pairs enables one to choose the sex of their child. Gender selection is not a stand-alone service. The preferred method of sex selection involves In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) in conjunction with Preimplantation Genetic Testing (embryonic testing – also known as PGS or PGD). The cost of gender selection is highly variable due to differences between clinics and also what services are included in the quoted price. The average cost of gender selection is around $4,500 on top of the cost of IVF with an FET of around $22,000. Here at CNY those prices are closer to $2,000 and $8,000 respectively (including the cost of medications) making CNY an ultra-affordable place to have gender selection. Due to the high cost of gender selection, many people price shop and travel to clinics like CNY to receive affordable sex selection treatment. How Does Gender Selection Work? The sex or gender of the baby is determined by two chromosomes known collectively as the Sex Chromosomes. Egg cells from the female always carry an X chromosome while male sperm carries either an X or a Y chromosome. If a sperm with an X chromosome meets the mother’s egg, then the resulting embryo and baby will be a girl with an XX chromosome. If a sperm with a Y chromosome fertilizes the woman’s egg cell, then the resulting child will be a boy with an XY chromosome. As you likely already know, there is a pretty much even 50/50 split between boys and girls conceived naturally. Thus in order to confidently determine the sex of your future child, you must be able to accurately select a sperm that contains a Y Chromosome or an embryo that has XY chromosomes. Sperm Sorting Method – Gender Selection with Artificial Insemination: Not Accurate and Not Widely Practiced in the USA Sperm sorting is a method of sorting sperm based on fact that X chromosomes contain slightly more DNA than Y chromosomes. Some methods sort the sperm with a centrifuge while others tag the DNA with a fluorescent dye. In theory, the sperm containing X chromosomes will sort by density and end up towards the bottom when being centrifuged and will shine more brightly when using the fluorescent dye method. In theory, this method could be used for both IUI or IVF. While some studies have shown some effect, it is not a greatly reliable method and not offered at many fertility clinics throughout the united states, including here at CNY Fertility. Gender Selection with IVF and Embryonic Genetic Testing Gender selection with IVF and Preimplantation Genetic Testing is the most advanced method of sex selection with virtually 100% accuracy. During this method, a small number of cells from an embryo made via IVF are removed from an embryo several days after fertilization and sent to a genetics lab for chromosomal analysis. After the biopsy, the embryos are immediately frozen to await the results from the genetic analysis. After the results are in, a decision is made by the intended parents which embryo to thaw and perform a frozen embryo transfer with. This method allows you to choose the sex of the child with over a 99.9% accuracy. Detailed Steps of IVF Gender Selection Because accurate gender selection requires In Vitro Fertilization, which in and of itself is a fairly intensive process, it’s important to understand at least at a basic level, what the whole process will entail. In general, IVF has 4 main steps: Ovarian Stimulation: The woman takes hormone-based medications with the goal of making many high-quality fully developed eggs (as opposed to the one that is usually made). Egg Retrieval: Removes the eggs from the ovaries. The Embryology Laboratory: Fertilization of the eggs, embryo development for 3-7 days Embryo Transfer: An embryo transfer is the process of putting an embryo back into the intended parent’s uterus. Because gender selection requires additional embryonic testing (which takes a number of days to get the results from) it not only requires additional steps specific to the testing of the embryos, but it requires two “treatment cycles.” One involves the making and testing of the embryos and the other, a Frozen Embryo Transfer Cycle that involves the preparation of the uterus for transfer and the FET itself. Phase 1: The Embryo Making & Testing Cycle This portion of the treatment is relatively similar to an embryo freezing treatment in that embryos are made via IVF and then frozen. Of course, before being frozen, they are biopsied and sent to a lab for testing. Ovarian Stimulation: Same as above, the woman takes hormone-based medications with the goal of making a number of mature, high-quality eggs. These stimulation medications are most often started on days 2-4 of a
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