Parents may be able to decide baby's gender. New procedure slashes risk for genetic disease

Katherine K. Gardiner Arizona Daily Wildcat General business administration sophomore Jennifer Lohse (left) holds 7-month-old Rebecca Felix while Rebecca's aunt, education freshman Hannah Montgomery, looks on. Both women said they would rather let nature choose the gender of their children.

A new technique developed by a Virginia-based institute, Genetic and IVF, offers parents the possibility of picking the sex of the baby before conception.

Dr. Timothy Gelety, of the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, said the procedure may be "potentially offered" at the center in the future, but not because couples want to plan the sex of their child.

"We would not offer it to allow someone to have a boy or girl, there is the potential for abuse. We have very careful, selective guidelines," he said.

Gelety said it would be used for medical reasons, like planning against fatal diseases. In males, muscular dystrophy and hemophilia are X-chromosome-linked genetic diseases, which means the mother could carry the child's possibly-fatal gene. By selecting to have a female child, parents can lessen the risk of those diseases.

"This may be beneficial for those type of situations," Gelety said, adding that the new technique is 90 percent accurate.

A flow-cytometer machine separates sperm cells by making DNA glow when exposed to a laser beam. X- and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm can be differentiated since the male chromosome is brighter because it has more DNA.

The assisted reproduction program, part of the Health Sciences Center, is the only UA facility that deals with gender selection. Gelety, an obstetrics and gynecology assistant professor, conducts sperm research and also sees patients.

Although University Medical Center offered the fertility program until last year, it is no longer a facet of the hospital.

Nancy Guthrie, associate director of AHSC public affairs, said the program moved in July 1997.

"This was one of the many (programs) that had to go," she said. "It was a business decision." UMC now focuses on patients' primary care.

Hannah Montgomery, who strolled down the UA Mall yesterday with her 7-month-old niece, said choosing the sex of a baby because of a personal preference is unnecessary.

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of," said Montgomery, an education freshman.

Jennifer Lohse, a business sophomore, agreed.

"It's not leaving it up to nature - everyone would want a boy," she said. "It doesn't go along with what life is. Even if I'm pregnant I wouldn't want to know the sex 'til it was born."

Irene Hsiao can be reached via e-mail at Irene.Hsiao@wildcat.arizona.edu.