What is PGD – Sex Selection?

The PGD technique is the only method that can promise 100% success for gender selection. However, PGD can only be used with IVF, making it expensive.

The PGD Process

PGD is a step added to an IVF cycle, which enables us to choose which embryos will be implanted into the mother.

• In an IVF cycle, eggs collected from the mother are fertilized with the father’s sperm in the lab.
• The resulting embryos are incubated for 3 days, until they have grown to 6 to 10 cells each.
• Next, the PGD procedure is performed. Guided by a powerful microscope, a microscopically tiny, hollow glass needle is used to penetrate the embryo’s outer covering, and remove a single cell.
• Genetic testing is performed on the removed cell. Because every cell in our bodies — starting from the moment of conception — contains a complete copy of our DNA in its chromosomes, analysis of this single cell can foretell the embryo’s future: whether it will have a genetic disease, chromosomal abnormalities, and whether it will become a boy or a girl.
• Using this information, healthy embryos are selected of the sex of the child you would like, male or female, and implanted into the mother.