Doing away with the wait for the famous “tea of ​​revelation”, a new technique developed by American scientists promises to allow couples undergoing in vitro fertilization to choose the sex of their children. The new study was published last Wednesday (22) in the scientific journal PLOS One and was conducted by researchers at Cornell University in New York, USA.

Beautiful pregnant belly on a gray background – Photo: Freepik/Disclosure/ND

Studies show that the procedure is safe and 80% effective. However, an individual’s gender selection raises ethical debate and is considered an illegal practice in many countries.

A technique called SST (sperm sex selection) was developed by researchers by selecting sperm cells for their density. Sperm containing the X chromosome, which determines the female sex, is heavier than the sperm with the Y chromosome, which determines the male sex.

According to the study, the experiment was conducted with 1371 couples divided into two groups, one of which served as a control. Among the volunteers, 105 men enriched their sperm with the SST method for the gender of the couple.

Girls were selected from a group of 59 couples, and as a result of this method, 79.1% of female embryos were obtained, a total of 16 children who were born without any anomalies or chromosomal changes.

Among 46 couples who wanted boys, the technique worked in 79.6% of cases. As a result, 13 healthy boys were born. According to the researchers, sperm enrichment makes it possible to select embryos of the desired sex.

“Our sex selection method does not increase the proportion of additional aneuploid embryos. Therefore, it can be considered extremely safe, as well as effective, inexpensive and ethically acceptable,” the researchers state.