Latest news with #ConnectIVF
The Advertiser
3 days ago
- Health
- The Advertiser
Parents spending thousands to choose baby's sex
Stacey Hughes always knew she wanted to have a little girl, but her pathway to getting there was a little different. Already a mum to three boys, in 2019 she travelled with her family to undergo IVF in the United States, where the team implanted a female embryo. Ms Hughes is one of hundreds of Australian parents who choose to travel overseas for sex selection, a practice that is not permitted in Australia other than for medical reasons. "I didn't want a fourth child, I wanted a girl," Ms Hughes told AAP. "My mum passed away in 2009 so I didn't have that mother-daughter relationship anymore and I just also wanted to have a girl in our family." Experts say Ms Hughes is not alone, with parents wanting to select a boy or a girl for family balancing reasons. Australia previously allowed sex selection for non-medical reasons, however in the early 2000s the guidelines changed, Connect IVF scientific director Lauren Hiser said. As a result, people are choosing to travel to nations that allow it, including parts of Southeast Asia, Europe and the US. "The concern in allowing Australians to go offshore is that we can't control the quality of service they are going to get overseas," Ms Hiser said. "The Australian IVF industry is highly regulated and allowing sex selection would make it safer for people to access." Ms Hiser stressed the process was not akin to "playing God" as the embryos were made during a regular IVF process and tested for a range of genetic abnormalities which also determined their sex. The number of people wanting to select a particular sex was in the hundreds, so allowing it in Australia would not expand boy or girl ratios in a particular direction, she added. "The reality is that sex selection is happening in Australia already, just not in the IVF industry," she said. "Then there's the risk of people going through a termination of pregnancy with all the physical and emotional impacts that come with that." Gender Selection Australia (GSA) is a service that helps families navigate overseas IVF processes. The sex selection process often came with a lot of misinformation, GSA general manager Nikki Mason said. "The majority of people want to balance out their family, it's not about preferring one sex over another," she said. "Sex selection is not manufacturing a result, it's just revealing what (embryos) families have after a normal IVF process and then they can choose which to implant." The IVF process is already stressful and the additional overseas travel costs make it unattainable for many. It cost Ms Hughes and her family about $30,000, including medications, accommodation, flights and medical appointments. While family and friends supported her decision, she faced trolling online after she previously spoke to the media about her experience. "I don't understand (the trolling) because it doesn't really affect anyone that I've had a baby girl," she said. "I think there's a lack of understanding of the process and people thinking that you are intervening." Stacey Hughes always knew she wanted to have a little girl, but her pathway to getting there was a little different. Already a mum to three boys, in 2019 she travelled with her family to undergo IVF in the United States, where the team implanted a female embryo. Ms Hughes is one of hundreds of Australian parents who choose to travel overseas for sex selection, a practice that is not permitted in Australia other than for medical reasons. "I didn't want a fourth child, I wanted a girl," Ms Hughes told AAP. "My mum passed away in 2009 so I didn't have that mother-daughter relationship anymore and I just also wanted to have a girl in our family." Experts say Ms Hughes is not alone, with parents wanting to select a boy or a girl for family balancing reasons. Australia previously allowed sex selection for non-medical reasons, however in the early 2000s the guidelines changed, Connect IVF scientific director Lauren Hiser said. As a result, people are choosing to travel to nations that allow it, including parts of Southeast Asia, Europe and the US. "The concern in allowing Australians to go offshore is that we can't control the quality of service they are going to get overseas," Ms Hiser said. "The Australian IVF industry is highly regulated and allowing sex selection would make it safer for people to access." Ms Hiser stressed the process was not akin to "playing God" as the embryos were made during a regular IVF process and tested for a range of genetic abnormalities which also determined their sex. The number of people wanting to select a particular sex was in the hundreds, so allowing it in Australia would not expand boy or girl ratios in a particular direction, she added. "The reality is that sex selection is happening in Australia already, just not in the IVF industry," she said. "Then there's the risk of people going through a termination of pregnancy with all the physical and emotional impacts that come with that." Gender Selection Australia (GSA) is a service that helps families navigate overseas IVF processes. The sex selection process often came with a lot of misinformation, GSA general manager Nikki Mason said. "The majority of people want to balance out their family, it's not about preferring one sex over another," she said. "Sex selection is not manufacturing a result, it's just revealing what (embryos) families have after a normal IVF process and then they can choose which to implant." The IVF process is already stressful and the additional overseas travel costs make it unattainable for many. It cost Ms Hughes and her family about $30,000, including medications, accommodation, flights and medical appointments. While family and friends supported her decision, she faced trolling online after she previously spoke to the media about her experience. "I don't understand (the trolling) because it doesn't really affect anyone that I've had a baby girl," she said. "I think there's a lack of understanding of the process and people thinking that you are intervening." Stacey Hughes always knew she wanted to have a little girl, but her pathway to getting there was a little different. Already a mum to three boys, in 2019 she travelled with her family to undergo IVF in the United States, where the team implanted a female embryo. Ms Hughes is one of hundreds of Australian parents who choose to travel overseas for sex selection, a practice that is not permitted in Australia other than for medical reasons. "I didn't want a fourth child, I wanted a girl," Ms Hughes told AAP. "My mum passed away in 2009 so I didn't have that mother-daughter relationship anymore and I just also wanted to have a girl in our family." Experts say Ms Hughes is not alone, with parents wanting to select a boy or a girl for family balancing reasons. Australia previously allowed sex selection for non-medical reasons, however in the early 2000s the guidelines changed, Connect IVF scientific director Lauren Hiser said. As a result, people are choosing to travel to nations that allow it, including parts of Southeast Asia, Europe and the US. "The concern in allowing Australians to go offshore is that we can't control the quality of service they are going to get overseas," Ms Hiser said. "The Australian IVF industry is highly regulated and allowing sex selection would make it safer for people to access." Ms Hiser stressed the process was not akin to "playing God" as the embryos were made during a regular IVF process and tested for a range of genetic abnormalities which also determined their sex. The number of people wanting to select a particular sex was in the hundreds, so allowing it in Australia would not expand boy or girl ratios in a particular direction, she added. "The reality is that sex selection is happening in Australia already, just not in the IVF industry," she said. "Then there's the risk of people going through a termination of pregnancy with all the physical and emotional impacts that come with that." Gender Selection Australia (GSA) is a service that helps families navigate overseas IVF processes. The sex selection process often came with a lot of misinformation, GSA general manager Nikki Mason said. "The majority of people want to balance out their family, it's not about preferring one sex over another," she said. "Sex selection is not manufacturing a result, it's just revealing what (embryos) families have after a normal IVF process and then they can choose which to implant." The IVF process is already stressful and the additional overseas travel costs make it unattainable for many. It cost Ms Hughes and her family about $30,000, including medications, accommodation, flights and medical appointments. While family and friends supported her decision, she faced trolling online after she previously spoke to the media about her experience. "I don't understand (the trolling) because it doesn't really affect anyone that I've had a baby girl," she said. "I think there's a lack of understanding of the process and people thinking that you are intervening." Stacey Hughes always knew she wanted to have a little girl, but her pathway to getting there was a little different. Already a mum to three boys, in 2019 she travelled with her family to undergo IVF in the United States, where the team implanted a female embryo. Ms Hughes is one of hundreds of Australian parents who choose to travel overseas for sex selection, a practice that is not permitted in Australia other than for medical reasons. "I didn't want a fourth child, I wanted a girl," Ms Hughes told AAP. "My mum passed away in 2009 so I didn't have that mother-daughter relationship anymore and I just also wanted to have a girl in our family." Experts say Ms Hughes is not alone, with parents wanting to select a boy or a girl for family balancing reasons. Australia previously allowed sex selection for non-medical reasons, however in the early 2000s the guidelines changed, Connect IVF scientific director Lauren Hiser said. As a result, people are choosing to travel to nations that allow it, including parts of Southeast Asia, Europe and the US. "The concern in allowing Australians to go offshore is that we can't control the quality of service they are going to get overseas," Ms Hiser said. "The Australian IVF industry is highly regulated and allowing sex selection would make it safer for people to access." Ms Hiser stressed the process was not akin to "playing God" as the embryos were made during a regular IVF process and tested for a range of genetic abnormalities which also determined their sex. The number of people wanting to select a particular sex was in the hundreds, so allowing it in Australia would not expand boy or girl ratios in a particular direction, she added. "The reality is that sex selection is happening in Australia already, just not in the IVF industry," she said. "Then there's the risk of people going through a termination of pregnancy with all the physical and emotional impacts that come with that." Gender Selection Australia (GSA) is a service that helps families navigate overseas IVF processes. The sex selection process often came with a lot of misinformation, GSA general manager Nikki Mason said. "The majority of people want to balance out their family, it's not about preferring one sex over another," she said. "Sex selection is not manufacturing a result, it's just revealing what (embryos) families have after a normal IVF process and then they can choose which to implant." The IVF process is already stressful and the additional overseas travel costs make it unattainable for many. It cost Ms Hughes and her family about $30,000, including medications, accommodation, flights and medical appointments. While family and friends supported her decision, she faced trolling online after she previously spoke to the media about her experience. "I don't understand (the trolling) because it doesn't really affect anyone that I've had a baby girl," she said. "I think there's a lack of understanding of the process and people thinking that you are intervening."
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Health
- Perth Now
Parents spending thousands to choose baby's sex
Stacey Hughes always knew she wanted to have a little girl, but her pathway to getting there was a little different. Already a mum to three boys, in 2019 she travelled with her family to undergo IVF in the United States, where the team implanted a female embryo. Ms Hughes is one of hundreds of Australian parents who choose to travel overseas for sex selection, a practice that is not permitted in Australia other than for medical reasons. "I didn't want a fourth child, I wanted a girl," Ms Hughes told AAP. "My mum passed away in 2009 so I didn't have that mother-daughter relationship anymore and I just also wanted to have a girl in our family." Experts say Ms Hughes is not alone, with parents wanting to select a boy or a girl for family balancing reasons. Australia previously allowed sex selection for non-medical reasons, however in the early 2000s the guidelines changed, Connect IVF scientific director Lauren Hiser said. As a result, people are choosing to travel to nations that allow it, including parts of Southeast Asia, Europe and the US. "The concern in allowing Australians to go offshore is that we can't control the quality of service they are going to get overseas," Ms Hiser said. "The Australian IVF industry is highly regulated and allowing sex selection would make it safer for people to access." Ms Hiser stressed the process was not akin to "playing God" as the embryos were made during a regular IVF process and tested for a range of genetic abnormalities which also determined their sex. The number of people wanting to select a particular sex was in the hundreds, so allowing it in Australia would not expand boy or girl ratios in a particular direction, she added. "The reality is that sex selection is happening in Australia already, just not in the IVF industry," she said. "We have non-invasive pre-natal testing at around 10 weeks, so some people are getting pregnant, determining the sex and then choosing to continue with that pregnancy or not. "Then there's the risk of people going through a termination of pregnancy with all the physical and emotional impacts that come with that." Gender Selection Australia (GSA) is a service that helps families navigate overseas IVF processes. The sex selection process often came with a lot of misinformation, GSA general manager Nikki Mason said. "The majority of people want to balance out their family, it's not about preferring one sex over another," she said. "Sex selection is not manufacturing a result, it's just revealing what (embryos) families have after a normal IVF process and then they can choose which to implant." The IVF process is already stressful and the additional overseas travel costs make it unattainable for many. It cost Ms Hughes and her family about $30,000, including medications, accommodation, flights and medical appointments. While family and friends supported her decision, she faced trolling online after she previously spoke to the media about her experience. "I don't understand (the trolling) because it doesn't really affect anyone that I've had a baby girl," she said. "I think there's a lack of understanding of the process and people thinking that you are intervening."
West Australian
3 days ago
- Health
- West Australian
Parents spending thousands to choose baby's sex
Stacey Hughes always knew she wanted to have a little girl, but her pathway to getting there was a little different. Already a mum to three boys, in 2019 she travelled with her family to undergo IVF in the United States, where the team implanted a female embryo. Ms Hughes is one of hundreds of Australian parents who choose to travel overseas for sex selection, a practice that is not permitted in Australia other than for medical reasons. "I didn't want a fourth child, I wanted a girl," Ms Hughes told AAP. "My mum passed away in 2009 so I didn't have that mother-daughter relationship anymore and I just also wanted to have a girl in our family." Experts say Ms Hughes is not alone, with parents wanting to select a boy or a girl for family balancing reasons. Australia previously allowed sex selection for non-medical reasons, however in the early 2000s the guidelines changed, Connect IVF scientific director Lauren Hiser said. As a result, people are choosing to travel to nations that allow it, including parts of Southeast Asia, Europe and the US. "The concern in allowing Australians to go offshore is that we can't control the quality of service they are going to get overseas," Ms Hiser said. "The Australian IVF industry is highly regulated and allowing sex selection would make it safer for people to access." Ms Hiser stressed the process was not akin to "playing God" as the embryos were made during a regular IVF process and tested for a range of genetic abnormalities which also determined their sex. The number of people wanting to select a particular sex was in the hundreds, so allowing it in Australia would not expand boy or girl ratios in a particular direction, she added. "The reality is that sex selection is happening in Australia already, just not in the IVF industry," she said. "We have non-invasive pre-natal testing at around 10 weeks, so some people are getting pregnant, determining the sex and then choosing to continue with that pregnancy or not. "Then there's the risk of people going through a termination of pregnancy with all the physical and emotional impacts that come with that." Gender Selection Australia (GSA) is a service that helps families navigate overseas IVF processes. The sex selection process often came with a lot of misinformation, GSA general manager Nikki Mason said. "The majority of people want to balance out their family, it's not about preferring one sex over another," she said. "Sex selection is not manufacturing a result, it's just revealing what (embryos) families have after a normal IVF process and then they can choose which to implant." The IVF process is already stressful and the additional overseas travel costs make it unattainable for many. It cost Ms Hughes and her family about $30,000, including medications, accommodation, flights and medical appointments. While family and friends supported her decision, she faced trolling online after she previously spoke to the media about her experience. "I don't understand (the trolling) because it doesn't really affect anyone that I've had a baby girl," she said. "I think there's a lack of understanding of the process and people thinking that you are intervening."
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE My live-in boyfriend of 18 months tragically died in his sleep. I launched a lawsuit to harvest his sperm - these are the eye-opening details
A woman has won a legal bid to have sperm extracted from her dead de-facto partner for IVF treatment and will travel interstate for the procedure because of a bizarre rule. Stevii Griffin launched a lawsuit in the NSW Supreme Court on March 10 seeking to have a sperm sample extracted from her boyfriend Brodie Davidson. Mr Davidson died in his sleep two days earlier on March 8 after the pair had been in a de-facto relationship since about August 2023. Ms Griffin told the court they had often spoken about having a family and submitted a text from Mr Davidson to back up her claim. Mr Davidson's mother also supported Ms Griffin's application. Justice Mark Richmond agreed Ms Griffin was entitled to possession of Mr Davidson's sperm and made orders for a sample to extracted from his body. He authorised Dr Derek Lok from Connect IVF to visit Lidcombe morgue, in western Sydney, and retrieve and store the sperm. Medical experts recommend that sperm be extracted from a deceased man's body no later than 24 hours after death, but there are reports of live sperm being obtained as late as 48 hours after death. A month after the sperm was obtained, Ms Griffin was advised by the fertility clinic Queensland Fertility Group (QFG) that it would be happy to receive the sperm and use it in an IVF treatment. She decided to transport the sample to Queensland for IVF on the basis that NSW wouldn't allow the treatment because Ms Griffin didn't have the written consent of the deceased. In Queensland, however, written consent is not required for posthumous semination. In May, Ms Griffin filed an amended summons in court seeking the release of the sample so she could transport it to Queensland. Justice Richmond concluded in his decision he was 'satisfied that it is appropriate that the Court make orders permitting the plaintiff to transfer the tissue sample to Queensland for its proposed use there in her IVF treatment'. He noted that without his orders in March, the storage of the sample at Connect IVF would have been unlawful. NSW law permits the extraction of the sperm without the written consent of the provider, but not its storage, which the judge described as 'odd'. Applications like Ms Griffin's were generally made 'in circumstances of extreme urgency'. He also noted that although the law required written consent for such sperm samples to be used for IVF in NSW, there was no prohibition on transporting samples to a jurisdiction that didn't require written consent. Justice Richmond said in circumstances where the death of the sperm provider was unforeseen, urgent applications like the one made by Ms Griffin in March were 'unsurprising and can be expected to recur'. He described the apparent conflict in NSW law as an important issue, and said it would be 'desirable' for NSW Parliament to amend the legislation.
West Australian
13-05-2025
- Health
- West Australian
Aussie mum sparks national debate after revealing she travelled to the US to seek IVF and choose the gender of her fourth child
An Australian mother has sparked a national debate after she travelled to the US for fertility treatment to choose the gender of her fourth child. Influencer Caitlin Bailey told the Herald Sun that she spent $45,000 to attend a fertility clinic in Los Angelos to conceive a baby girl. The mother of two boys and one girl aged between one and five always wanted two of each sex, so she contacted Gender Selection Australia (GSA) about conceiving another girl as a single parent. The clinic puts Australian families in touch with Californian-based fertility doctor Daniel Potter, who specialises in gender selection to balance families as well as genetic disease screening. Gender selection to balance families is generally banned in Australia, so hundreds of Australian families travel overseas to choose the gender of their baby via IVF, according to GSA's website. The practice is only permitted in Australia to reduce the risk of transmitting serious genetic conditions, diseases or abnormalities from future generations. Connect IVF scientific director Lauren Hiser said while it was possible to know the sex of an embryo prior to it being transferred to a woman's uterus, sex could only be selected in Australia when a genetic component was involved in IVF. Gender selection through IVF was available in NSW between 1999 and 2004, which Ms Hiser said was used mostly for family balancing reasons so people could select the sex they were desiring before pregnancy. 'Whenever people hear about sex selection, they are always very concerned that people are selecting boys over girls, that's the first thing that comes to people's mind,' she said. 'If you look into the data when it was available in NSW, between 1999 and 2004 the ratios did not change. 'In the patients that were able to select based solely on sex, they were actually choosing more girls and doing it for family balancing reasons. 'But sex selection is happening in Australia, it's just not happening within the IVF realm.' A La Trobe University study found that Australian families were terminating pregnancies following non-invasive prenatal testing to find out the sex of their child. Researchers found a cultural preference for sons among some ethnic groups led to more boys than girls being born in Victoria. The naturally occurring ratio worldwide was 105 boys born to every 100 girls; however, the study showed there were 108 and 109 boys born respectively to Indian and Chinese-born mothers for every 100 girls born between 1999-2015 in Victoria. La Trobe Judith Lumley Centre lead researcher Kristina Edvardsson believed some women may be terminating pregnancies after discovering they were expecting a girl and, in other cases, travelled overseas to access non-medical sex selection services through assisted reproduction. 'We know even Australian-born women and men can choose to go overseas and select the sex of their baby, but what we can see from the sex ratios in the Australian-born group is that it's not skewed to any gender,' she said. Ms Hiser said gender selection and whether it should be introduced to minimise harm was an ethical discussion. 'If there are people already getting pregnant, then testing a pregnancy and choosing to terminate, well, could we as an industry stop that from happening?' she said. 'Could we select an embryo before it becomes a pregnancy so people do not have to go through medical terminations or anything more drastic?' Ms Hiser said other international jurisdictions introduced gender selection as a way of reducing infanticide, backyard abortions and other things that could cause harm. 'We have a group of people in Australia that are looking for the services and are willing to travel internationally to achieve that,' she said. 'We have great IVF service in Australia that can do all that, but we are sending our patients overseas to jurisdictions that may not be as well set up, that have higher risks associated and certainly higher costs. 'There's a lot of ethical considerations to be had if we should be selecting for sex or not.' Ms Hiser said reproductive technology laws in Australia sent a lot of citizens overseas to seek treatment. 'People looking for surrogacy, it's not easy to do in Australia so they go overseas, certainly for sex selection and some donor situations as well,' she said. 'Because our laws don't support it, it's easier for people to access that outside of Australia.' Ms Bailey and GSA have been contacted for comment.
