 To ensure prized baby boy, Indians flock to Bangkok
Rachel Rickard Straus, TNN Dec 27, 2010, 12.40am ISTNEW DELHI: Aamita from Delhi has a dark secret. Last year, without telling family or friends, she boarded a plane to Thailand to undergo IVF treatment. A mother of two girls by then, Aamita was perfectly fertile and would have had no problem conceiving again. But she wanted a boy.
Gender selection is illegal in India, but a growing number of women like Aamita are finding a way round the ban by going to Thailand where there are no laws against it. Doctors use preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), a method that involves producing embryos through IVF and implanting only those of the desired gender into the womb. Results are nearly 100% accurate.
One clinic in Bangkok reports a significant increase in enquiries from India in the last year, while another claims web enquiries from Indian couples have doubled in the past 10 months. At around $8,500, excluding flights, it's not cheap, but it seems a price couples are willing to pay.
A MOTHER of three boys is so desperate to have a girl she is travelling to Thailand so she can choose the sex of her next baby, side-stepping Australian laws that forbid the selection of a child's gender.
The woman, 36, and her husband, who have sons aged five, four and one, say they cannot wait for federal medical authorities to decide if they will overturn their ban on the practice.
While she says her boys mean the world to her, the mother, who does not want to be identified for fear of reprisals, will spend more than $15,000 to ensure she conceives a girl in a Bangkok clinic in the coming months.
"I would do anything to have a daughter," she said.
"It is an ethical thing we have weighed up. It hasn't been a decision taken lightly but it is one we felt we have reached and are happy with. I wouldn't trade my sons for a million daughters, this is not about my sons.
"It is about me and my husband wanting a daughter."
She is one of several Australian parents being referred to a Thai clinic by Australian IVF specialists to beat laws that forbid the selection of a baby's gender purely on grounds of preference or family balance.
An IVF specialist has carried out some testing and egg retrieval needed to prepare for pre-implantation genetic diagnosis in Thailand's IVF clinic.
It will separate male and female embryos so only female embryos are transferred.
The woman is annoyed a review of sex selection guidelines has been stalled, possibly until 2012
Couples flocking to Thailand for gender selection
Thailand is the new attraction for many Indians, but no, not for the purpose of a relaxing vacation. The latest trend that has caught the Indians is to go to Thailand to have a child of the desired gender.
Gender selection is completely banned in India but a lot of Indian couples are finding another way out in Thailand. The country which does not have rules imposed on gender selection of the embryo is reported to have a significant increase in the number of visitors from India for this purpose. Even web enquiries from Indian couples is said to have been doubled in the last 10 months.
A flight to Thailand costs around $ 8, 500 which is not that cheap but for couples desperate to have a child of the desired gender, it is not that expensive either.
In Thailand, doctors use the technology called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This unique method involves both producing embryos through IVF and then choosing those of the required gender to implant in the womb. Naturally the method is almost fool-proof and nearly 100% accurate.
Not only just India, even couples from the United Kingdom, the USA, Australia and many other European nations are flocking regularly to Thailand for such a reliable and cheap gender-selection treatment. But while couples from the West want mostly girls to balance their families, Indians have been mostly preferring the male child.
Even Richard Burtan-Sanchez, International Patient Consultant at Gender Selection Bangkok too claims to have never heard of Indian couples asking for a girl.
Burtan-Sanchez even said that he noted that it is mostly the men who are more willing for the gender selection. According to him 80% of the queries are made by the husband and not the wife. This automatically points to the Indian man’s desire for a male heir throughout time. |
PGD Gender Selection is a technique that possible to determine the sex of embryos resulting from IVF and then ensure that embryos of a particular sex are transferred back into the uterus. This allows couples to attempt to choose the sex of their baby in advance of pregnancy. In particular, genetic disorders in a previous child or family member (such as a prior history of Down’s syndrome, Edward’s syndrome, Patau’s syndrome) and all women over the age of 35 may benefit from various types of PGD.
