Human reproduction should not be controlled
There are many ways that human reproduction can be controlled either for better or for worse. One of the ways of controlling human reproduction is with in vitro fertilisation (IVF), this is widely used across the country for various reasons, for example IVF can be used to help infertile couples, single women, gay couples and many others to have children.
IVF is quite a long process that has become more successful and popular in recent years. The process involves the women's ovaries being stimulated with hormones such as FSH (follicles stimulating hormone) or HMG (human menopausal gonadotrophin) so as to make sure that she produces several eggs, which means that there will be more eggs available to be collected. The eggs are removed from the ovaries using a special needle. On the same day that the egg is retrieved a semen sample is collected form the man. After they have both been collected the sperm are added to the eggs and then left to incubate over night. If fertilisation occurs they will be left for a few days in the laboratory to be observed before being placed into the women's uterus. Sometimes additional eggs can be kept and frozen for use later on.
Before the eggs are implanted back into the mother's uterus there are a number of things that can be done to manipulate the outcome. It is now possible to select the sex of a child before it is born but this is a very controversial area and isn't commonly practised. However it can be done in a clinic in America for a few thousand dollars.
There are many techniques used to determine the sex of the child. Male and female sperms have different masses and therefore can be separated by 'centrifuging the sperms through viscous solutions' (Leese 1988 p 62). Another widely known technique is 'microsort'. The sperms' heads, containing the DNA, are marked with a fluorescent dye, which attaches itself to the DNA; they are then placed in droplets of liquid and fired very fast through a laser beam. The sperms that will produce females have more DNA and therefore more dye; this then allows the laser to separate them out. IVF is carried out in the normal way except that the sperm that is allowed to fertilise the eggs are either mostly male or female producing. We may be able not only to decide on the sex of our children but also their eye colour, hair colour or maybe even their personality and intelligence.
There are many ways that human reproduction can be controlled either for better or for worse. One of the ways of controlling human reproduction is with in vitro fertilisation (IVF), this is widely used across the country for various reasons, for example IVF can be used to help infertile couples, single women, gay couples and many others to have children.
IVF is quite a long process that has become more successful and popular in recent years. The process involves the women's ovaries being stimulated with hormones such as FSH (follicles stimulating hormone) or HMG (human menopausal gonadotrophin) so as to make sure that she produces several eggs, which means that there will be more eggs available to be collected. The eggs are removed from the ovaries using a special needle. On the same day that the egg is retrieved a semen sample is collected form the man. After they have both been collected the sperm are added to the eggs and then left to incubate over night. If fertilisation occurs they will be left for a few days in the laboratory to be observed before being placed into the women's uterus. Sometimes additional eggs can be kept and frozen for use later on.
Before the eggs are implanted back into the mother's uterus there are a number of things that can be done to manipulate the outcome. It is now possible to select the sex of a child before it is born but this is a very controversial area and isn't commonly practised. However it can be done in a clinic in America for a few thousand dollars.
There are many techniques used to determine the sex of the child. Male and female sperms have different masses and therefore can be separated by 'centrifuging the sperms through viscous solutions' (Leese 1988 p 62). Another widely known technique is 'microsort'. The sperms' heads, containing the DNA, are marked with a fluorescent dye, which attaches itself to the DNA; they are then placed in droplets of liquid and fired very fast through a laser beam. The sperms that will produce females have more DNA and therefore more dye; this then allows the laser to separate them out. IVF is carried out in the normal way except that the sperm that is allowed to fertilise the eggs are either mostly male or female producing. We may be able not only to decide on the sex of our children but also their eye colour, hair colour or maybe even their personality and intelligence.
