Actually not quite correct there Kate. It is possible to determine the sex of an embryo through the IVF process it just requires a further more expensive procedure to be done called PGD.....about $5000 more than a regular cycle in fact. BUT it is currently illegal anywhere in Australia to select an embryo based on sex unless the reason for the selection is that the couple carry a sex linked genetic disorder like haemophilia or sickle cell anaemia or something like that. When a PGD procedure is done one of the markers that will show up is the x and y chromosomes, the only person under current legislation that is privy to that information is the genetic scientist...not even your IVF doctor is allowed to know if the embryo they are implanting is a boy or a girl.

OKay back to the topic at hand.....I have pondered this and followed the discussion for most of the day before voting. My gut feeling as someone undergoing IVF (and PGD) is that it is insulting to me as an individual that someone would expect to have access to what is essentially a medical and surgical treatment to treat a medical disorder in order to fulfill what is essentially a convenience for these otherwise heathy couples. In any other area of medicine we would not think to give medical treatment to a healthy person....we would not give chemotherapy to someone who did not have cancer, we would not offer a new organ to someone who did not need it so why are we offering infertility treatment to otherwise fertile couples...... just doesnt make sense to me. I have no problems with gay lesbian and single people seeking treatment...in my eyes they fall under my broader banner/definition of infertility but a healthy couple with a proven track record of healthy pregnancies and babies....to me that is just another example of what is fast becoming a "fast food" "drive through convenience store" mentality. Is that really the way we as a society want to head...I personally don't think so. In my opinion (and I stress it is my opinion) people who wish to carry twins do so because they want to get their instant family over and done with in one hit, one preganancy and more importantly in my personal view, one lot of maternity leave so that they can get back their careers as soon as possible with minimal downtime. I think society in general needs to take a big hard look at itself when the need for career supercedes the need for family values and nurturing.
Just my take on it all for what its worth.

Also I cringe at the thought and possibilty that the same people who are desirous of these convenience families tend to be those of the more affluent nature and the possibility of queue jumping arises....money can buy anything even babies it seems in this life and while I had to wait 4 months for my initial IVF appointment with the fertility specialist of my choice, if you have the right influence you can walk in the next day it seems. I think that is what bugs me most of all about fertile couples accessing IVF treatment is that they are taking away valuable time from the people who are really entitled to that MEDICAL treatment......me being one of them. To undergo PGD treatment (which we are accessing to look at recurrent miscarriages issues) means that we are only able to cycle at certain times. The laboratory equipment , the procedures and the scientists needed are so specialised that only 4 patients can be done each week through this technique, meaning we have to wait our turn to cycle each time as to when there is a gap. I cannot simpy do an IVF cycle every month till I get it right I have to wait several months in between till there is room for me. If one of those spots was taken up by a healthy couple looking for designer babies I would be ropeable.
To bring this thought back onto the topic, IVF in general is a limited resource operation. Not every hospital can offer it, it is highly specialised and requires millions of dollars of equipment and highly specialised and trained doctors. The treatments are expensive requiring the use of both medical and surgical time. I am insulted that healthy people think they have the right to clog up the system and hog my doctors time and resources with their designer families when other families struggle even with the help of medicare to afford the medical treatment that they deserve in order to acheive their dream of a family.