What are the legal issues related to gender selection?

Gender selection is the practice of choosing the gender of an unborn baby through medical interventions such as in vitro fertilization and sperm sorting. Gender selection is a legal issue in Virginia but is currently not practiced. Under Virginia law, parents are not able to select the sex of their unborn child. Virginia has a law that prohibits any physician, geneticist, or other health care provider from performing “sex selection” of a human embryo or fetus. This means that a provider in Virginia cannot use medical techniques to try to select the gender of a baby. Furthermore, commercial sperm banks located in Virginia are also prohibited from selling sperm for the purpose of gender selection. Although it is not illegal to purchase sperm from out-of-state commercial sperm banks, any attempt to purchase and use sperm for gender selection with the aid of a Virginia-based provider would be considered a violation of Virginia law. In the court of public opinion, there are mixed views on gender selection. Some argue that gender selection is a form of discrimination since it allows people to pick and choose the characteristics of a child before they are born. Others argue that it allows parents to choose the gender of their child if they have a strong preference for one over the other. Overall, gender selection is a legally complex issue in Virginia. While not currently practiced, Virginia law does prohibit use of medical techniques with the purpose of selecting the gender of an unborn baby. Furthermore, any purchase of sperm from out-of-state commercial sperm banks for the purpose of gender selection is also considered illegal.

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What are the legal issues related to gender selection?

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