Caitlyn Bailey, who has two boys and a girl, flew to the US and paid $45,000 to ensure her next pregnancy, conceived through IVF, would be another girl.
The single mum has a following of more than 60,000 users on Instagram and uses her platform to promote her lifestyle and parenting journey.
“Personally I don’t agree with it. I think choosing the sex of your child is really wrong ethically, morally and legally.
“It sends a message that you’re only going to conditionally love this child because they are a particular sex.
“What if that child ends up being intersex or trans? Is your love for them then cease?”
Despite the UN’s strong stance on the issue, several nations across the globe allow the practice within domestic law.
“The US is a bit laissez-faire and it’s certainly permitted there. Mexico, Asia are cheaper options, Cyprus, a lot of countries do say we will do it if you’re prepared to pay for it,” Gerber said.
IVF sex selection has been illegal in Australia since 2004 and public sentiment seems to align with the law.
“Every now and then we do surveys, to see what societal attitudes are and overwhelmingly, more than 80 per cent of people say ‘no, this is a commodification of children. This is a slippery slope towards designer babies we don’t want that, we are going to value every child regardless of what sex they are’,” Gerber said.
