DANIEL SCHIFF
simpler procedure than the one employing I.V.F., and it allows for"natural" rather than engineered conception. There is every reason to believe that its efficiency will continue to improve- approaching 100 percent- as the technology evolves. It is on the assumption of its attaining complete reliability that it is herein classified as an"efficient" technique. At least seventy clinics across the United States , and a similar number worldwide, now offer such sperm separation,'? and its cost certainly seems in reach of most couples."
Indeed the spread of this procedure correlates well with the strong statistical evidence that"acceptance of preconceptive sex selection among both potential users and potential practitioners in the United States has increased dramatically in recent years."'> Hence it seems reasonable to posit that as the availability of- and interest in- reliable sex preselection methods grows, there will be more and more couples who will want to ensure that their choice of the child's sex is realized. A good number of them will do so by using these ever more widely accessible scientific methods.
Those who express nervousness about allowing couples to venture down this path often invoke the argument that sex preselection is a subsection of the general category of trait selection, and that permitting unfettered choice for sex is no different from allowing genetic engineering for a wide variety of traits. While this"slippery slope" position does raise some concerns, there would seem to be ample reason to consider sex preselection as a separate case, and not simply to regard it as part of the genetic engineering debate for Jewish legal purposes. First, there is an intrinsic qualitative difference between playing a part in the decision as to which sperm and egg will meet- as is the case in most sex preselection methods- and actually altering the internal structure of the genetic material itself, as is required for the determination of other traits. Second, within the medical field, a distinction has now been drawn between these two areas. The clear evidence for this is the fact that"sex preselection” has been given its own heading in the Cumulated Index Medicus, after long having been
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