How is embryo sex selection performed?
October 12, 2024How is embryo sex selection performed to determine the gender of the baby?
A woman's egg always carries the X sex chromosome, while a man's sperm can carry a chromosome Y or a chromosome X. If an egg is fertilized with a sperm carrying an X chromosome, we get a female embryo, and if an egg is fertilized with a sperm carrying a Y chromosome, we get a male embryo.
The sex of the fetus can only be determined during IVF. During the IVF process, eggs are injected with sperm without knowing which chromosome they carry. After the embryos divide and their cells multiply, a cell can be biopsied from each embryo and sent for genetic testing to determine the sex of the embryo. Therefore, it is not possible to create embryos of the desired sex, but it is possible to examine the existing embryos, determine their sex, and transfer the embryos of the desired sex to the uterus. In most cases, half of the embryos are of the desired gender, but there are some cases in which embryos of the desired gender are not obtained.
