This topic always seems a little strange to me because I figure that we parents should be grateful to some higher power just to have a healthy child.  Then I think about my buddy from college who had two girls, tried for a boy and ended up with twin girls that time around.  This article from American Baby explores some natural and unnatural methods for choosing gender, as well as suggestions for parents regarding their motivations and core beliefs around the whole issue.  The last section titled “Be Careful What You Wish For” says it all:  “...in the end, your child is going to be not merely a boy or a girl but her own person, and the hope is that you will allow her to be that....”

I really like the approach of this article because it presents options while keeping all the ethical stuff in mind.  Not to downplay the yearning that parents of a single-gender brood experience, because I can’t even imagine how some moms handle four boys coming home from school and surging with testosterone.  It is just important to realize that while we work towards our perfect family that these little creatures are people too, regardless of which gender their parents really wanted.