Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T22:20:23.041Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Sex Selection by Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) for Nonmedical Reasons in Contemporary Israeli Regulations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2008

RICHARD V. GRAZI
Affiliation:
Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York, and Genesis Fertility & Reproductive Medicine
JOEL B. WOLOWELSKY
Affiliation:
Yeshivah of Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York
DAVID J. KRIEGER
Affiliation:
Recanati School of Health Professionals at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel

Extract

We report here on recent developments in Israel on the issue of sex selection for nonmedical reasons by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Sex selection for medical reasons (such as in cases of sex-linked genetic diseases) is generally viewed as uncontroversial and legal in European and American law. Its use for nonmedical reasons (like “balancing” the gender ratio in a family) is generally illegal in European countries. In the United States, it is not illegal, although in the opinion of the Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), it is problematic. This position is undergoing reconsideration, albeit in a limited way.

Type
Special Section: International Voices 2008
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Notes

1 Ethics Committee of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. Sex selection and preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Fertility and Sterility 1999;72(4):595–7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

2 Ethics Committee of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine. Preconception sex selection for nonmedical reasons. Fertility and Sterility 2002;75(5):861–4Google ScholarPubMed.

3 Robertson, JA. Sex selection for gender variety by preimplantation, avoidance of birth defects genetic diagnosis. Fertility and Sterility 2002;78(3):463CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

4 Gleicher, N, Karande, V. Gender selection for nonmedical indications. Fertility and Sterility 2002;78(3):460–2, at 462CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

5 Yisraeli, A. Directive of the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Health, No. 21/05, 9 May 2005Google Scholar.

6 Shapira, A. Status Report: Israel, International Perspectives on the Status and Protection of the Extracorporeal Embryo. Nomos; 2007Google Scholar.

7 Grazi, RV. Overcoming Infertility: A Guide for Jewish Couples. New Milford, CT: The Toby Press; 2005Google Scholar.

8 Zilberstein, Y. Selecting a fetus for implantation: Avoidance of birth defects and determining sex [Responsum to Richard V. Grazi, 1991]. Assia 1995;8:47–8Google Scholar.

9 Barkam, A. Orthodox and conservative rabbis object to allowing gender selection. Haaretz Hebrew Edition 2005;22 May:4650, at 47Google Scholar.

10 Erenreich, M, Carmel, Y. B'mareh Habazak 2003;5(104):206Google Scholar.

11 Traubmann, T, Shadmi, H. Couple allowed to choose baby's gender to avoid halakhic dilemma. Haaretz English Edition 2002 Oct 18Google Scholar.

12 Lichtenstein, A., Responsum to Richard V. Grazi, 29 Sivan 5651 (11 Jun 1991)Google Scholar.

13 Grazi, RV, Wolowelsky, JB. Addressing the idiosyncratic needs of Orthodox Jewish couples requesting sex selection by preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics 2006;23:421–5CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

14 Pollack, D, Bleich, M, Reid, C, Fadel, M. Classical religious perspectives of adoption law. University of Notre Dame Law Review 2004;79(2):693753Google Scholar.

15 Israeli Knesset. Joint Meeting of the Committee of Labor, Social Welfare and Health and the Committee of Science and Technology on the subject of PGD for the Purpose of Sex Determination, 5 Jul 2005Google Scholar.

16 Israeli Knesset. Joint Meeting of the Committee of Labor, Social Welfare and Health and the Committee of Science and Technology, on the subject of PGD for the Purpose of Sex Determination, 30 Oct 2006Google Scholar.