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From: taylor@hplabsc.UUCP (Dave Taylor)
Newsgroups: mod.comp-soc
Subject: Re: Selecting the sex...
Message-ID: <699@hplabsc.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 30-Sep-86 17:58:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: hplabsc.699
Posted: Tue Sep 30 17:58:25 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 2-Oct-86 20:33:46 EDT
Reply-To: hplabs!topaz!berman@hplabs.HP.COM
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Laboratories
Lines: 22
Approved: taylor@hplabs
Reference: <693@hplabsc.UUCP>

This article is from topaz!berman@hplabs.HP.COM (Michael Berman)
 and was received on Tue Sep 30 14:54:21 1986

If this is the same thing I saw on TV, the uproar is premature.  It's
based on some unproven theory that says that the time of conception
determines the sex of the baby.  (I think there is actually a statistical
link, but it's weak.)  Anyway, it's clever marketing -- they give you
a money-back guarantee if they're wrong.  So for every $20 they receive,
they keep at least $10, and send back some refunds.  Sounds like snake oil
to me.

There is a sneakier way to determine the gender of a child that is probably
already practiced occasionally, and really works.  While many, perhaps most
people would find it morally reprehensible, it seems likely it's been tried.
All you do is use amniocentesis to determine the gender of the fetus,
and abort it if you don't like it.  I understand that a doctor will
not normally do amniocentesis if he believes that this is the only
purpose, but certainly this could be circumvented.  For example, the
couple goes to one doctor, reporting a phoney family history of
appropriate genetic defects which are standard indicators for
amniocentesis.  Then, based on the outcome, they may go elsewhere for
an abortion.  This is virtually 100% effective.