Prof. Robert Sparrow1, Prof Catherine Mills2
1Monash University, , Australia, 2Monash University, , Australia
Biography:
Bio to come
Abstract:
Sex selection is one of the most widely practised and most controversial uses of reproductive technology. One way in which couples may try to secure the birth of a child of a particular sex/gender is to use preimplantation genetic testing (PGT). The use of PGT to this end involves diagnosis of chromosomal make-up of the various embryos available to the couple in order to transfer an embryo of the desired “sex” into a woman’s womb. Thus, as it is typically understood, sex selection using PGT involves choosing a child of a particular sex by determining the sex of the embryos created in the course of IVF. In this paper we want to challenge this way of understanding sex selection via PGT. Notoriously, Judith Butler has argued that sex cannot be analytically distinguished from gender and that consequently biological sex is a myth. Butler’s arguments prompt the question of whether embryos have a sex. We argue that a proper understanding of the biology of sex differentiation calls into question the appropriateness of attributing sex to embryos. However, Butler’s writings on the ontology of sex suggest that the question of whether or not embryos have sex cannot be settled simply on the basis of biological markers. Consequently, we also offer some reflections on the implications of Butler’s work for the proper understanding of the practice of sex selection and vice versa.