The ban on the technology that offers allows parent to have the sex of their children, predetermined using IVF will be open for review by Australia's health watchdog. According to the Herald Sun reports, the National Health and Medical Research Council is ready to launch a review of the ban amid criticism from Australian fertility doctors.

Currently, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis is permitted for parents who have diseases that can be passed on to a gender-specific child. Many Australians who do not fit under this category travel to the US and Thailand for the costly ($10,000-$15,000) procedure every year.

Gab Kovacs, IVF pioneer informed the newspaper the ban should be overturned as only parents who were strongly determined would pay for the procedure. He added, It might even be in the interests of the child to have their sex selected.

If a couple so badly want a boy or a girl they are prepared to go through IVF and sex selection at great cost and effort rather than getting pregnant naturally, then maybe if they had the child naturally and it was the wrong sex it may not be looked after as well.

Dr Lyndon Hale, Melbourne IVF chairman believes that the procedure should only be permitted if there is a significant benefit for the family. He says, I don't think it should be open slather where people say, 'I have a boy and I want a girl so I can have the pair.'

Only a handful of his patients requested the procedure every year and Dr Hale feels that the procedure should be made available for non-medical purposes.

Australia Thailand Medicine