Reproductive Autonomy and Social Sex Selection: A Chance of a Choice?

Through preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), individuals can now reliably choose the sex of their baby. However, PGD is largely prohibited for individuals seeking to sex select for non-medical reasons. This article argues that to protect reproductive autonomy, individuals should be allowed to make reproductive choices, regardless of their motivations, unless those choices would cause serious harms to others. It follows that social sex selection should not be prohibited on the basis of moral objections, only when it will cause serious harm. This article considers the opposing ethical framework of parental virtues. A reproductive autonomy framework is preferred, given the challenges of determining and applying parental virtues to social sex selection. This article examines three potential harms identified by opponents to sex selection, and argues that while these remain speculative they do not justify the curtailing of reproductive autonomy.