Select the Gender and Eye Color of Your Next Baby

Lowest base price, highest success rates of any U.S. PGD gender selection program

World Leading Gender Selection Program

  • World leading 100%* Gender Selection with PGD
  • Lowest base price of any U.S. PGD program
  • Affiliate clinics in over 42 countries
  • Screening for over 400 hereditary diseases
  • Now combinable with Microsort sperm sorting
  • Critical procedures performed by MDs and PhDs
  • Full assistance with travel discounts and visas
  • Financing available

Gender Selection Leaders

Recognized by ABC, NBC, CNN, Fox and Reuters as among "THE" worldwide leaders in gender selection technology. If you want to be certain your next child will be the gender you are hoping for then no other method comes close to PGD (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis). While traditional sperm-screening techniques have a success rates of 60-70%, only PGD offers virtually 100% accuracy.

And now, in one of the most major advances in the ability of parents to choose characteristics of their children, the Fertility Institutes announce the availability of EYE COLOR SELECTION. Following years of work and research, eye color selection has become an additional realistic option for those parents with such an interest.

Our Gender Selection Program in the Media

Good Morning America
Would You Choose the Gender of Your Next Baby?
Family Balancing with Dr. Steinberg founder of The Fertility Institutes

60 Minutes
Designer Babies
Gender Selection, Family Balancing and the advances in fertility science with Dr. Steinberg founder of The Fertility Institutes

VICE on HBO
Couple Chooses the Sex of their Baby
Fertility science now allows parents to select the gender of their children. Featuring Dr. Steinberg founder of The Fertility Institutes
Full Article 

VOGUE: Chrissy Teigen and John Legend Already Know the Gender of Their Second Baby — and Here's How

More videos and articles

International Programs Available!

We are pleased to announce that all medical services offered by The Fertility Institutes are available internationally. We work with affiliate clinics in over 42 countries.

Gender Selection Methods

The selection of gender has been a quest of couples for as far back as recorded history allows. Early drawings from prehistoric times suggest that gender selection efforts were being investigated by our earliest ancestors. Later history shows intense interest in gender selection by early Asian (Chinese), Egyptian and Greek cultures. This is followed by documented scientific efforts beginning in the 1600's to sway the chances of achieving a pregnancy by a variety of methods.

Research and work carried out in the 1980's and 90's have finally provided methods offering the chance of obtaining a desired pregnancy gender outcome that ranges from excellent to virtually guaranteed* with PGD.

The steps and procedures for gender selection are as follows:

  1. Several eggs are extracted from the mother by our doctors, sperm is supplied by the father.
  2. The father's sperm is used to fertilize the mother's eggs in our lab.
  3. After 5 days, several advanced embryos will have developed (see figure).
  4. Our doctor-scientist specialists examine the genetic makeup of the embryos, screening for genetic diseases and optionally, desired gender and eye color.
  5. Your tested embryos are either: cryopreserved (frozen) while we await full genetic reports on each of the tested embryos OR continued in culture for one additional day with our "same day results" option*
  6. If same day results are chosen (Los Angeles full genetics only, and not available with eye color add-on), 6 days after your eggs are harvested, you return to receive your screened, tested and chosen embryo(s).
  7. Depending upon your selection of additional genetic tests (*eye color or specific known genetic disease you carry) two to eight weeks later, full genetic reports on the embryos are received and arrangements are made for your return for 1-2 days to receive your screened, chosen embryo(s).
  8. Gestation and birth take place as normal.

The Scientific Understanding of Gender Selection

It has been known for many years that the gender of a pregnancy is determined by the sex chromosome carried by the sperm. Sperm bearing an "X" chromosome, when united with the "X" from the female (females only produce "X") will result in an "XX" pregnancy that produces a female. If a sperm bearing a "Y" chromosome (men have both "X" and "Y" bearing sperm) unites with the "X" chromosome from the female, an "XY" pregnancy will result that gives rise to a male offspring.

dna min

Armed with this knowledge, science initially worked to allow for an accurate method of safely separating sperm to allow the majority of those sperm capable of producing the desired gender ("X" sperm or "Y" sperm) to be exposed to the female egg (oocyte). While a variety of methods of purifying the sperm separation process have been reported and studied, in reality, very few of these methods have withstood scientific scrutiny that "checks" the validity of claims made by those employing the procedure.

Because no sperm separation method thus far developed has produced the high level of sperm separation "X" (for female) and "Y" (for male) needed to provide gender outcome success levels greater than 90%, further work to perfect the gender selection process is being studied.

"PGD" (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis) has taken gender selection to the next and most successful level ever (greater than 99.9%). Results from our PGD process far exceed reported results from any and all other processes.

Sperm that have been filtered by our standard sperm preparation process are allowed to fertilize the eggs obtained from the female "in vitro" (in our highly specialized fertility laboratory). The embryos resulting from this specialized fertilization process are then screened by our genetics team to determine both their gender and that selected chromosome pairs have resulted in an expected normal genetic pairing outcome (this process is called "aneuploidy" screening). This gender determination process at the very early development level as made famous by our Center, has resulted in the ability to provide gender selection results for the chosen gender far in excess of 99.9%.

The aneuploidy (abnormal chromosome count) screening process also employed at the time of PGD gender determination also allows for the detection of limited genetic count abnormalities as a routine or for the optional screening of the embryos for a wide variety of additional genetic abnormalities. Upon request, we can screen for genetic abnormalities such as Down's syndrome (one "extra" chromosome 21), Turner's syndrome (the absence of one of the two "X" chromosomes normally found in a female), and Kleinfelter's syndrome (a male with one "Y" chromosome and 2 "X" chromosomes instead of the normally found single "X" chromosome).

New DNA microarray technology also provides us the option of screening embryos for a full (46 chromosome) genetic count. We are also able to provide those patients known to carry specific personal or family genetic diseases the ability to screen the embryos for many specific disorders. All couples meeting our standard, liberal entrance criteria will qualify for the PGD process.

clinic 01 sm

Aneuploidy screening as described above detects abnormal chromosome numbers and the diseases associated with those conditions. "Single gene disorders" include a wide variety of hereditary diseases found on a specific chromosome that can also be screened for with PGD.

Among the diseases detectable with PGD and screened for at our centers:

  • Adrenoleukodystrophy
  • Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
  • Becker Muscular Dystrophy
  • Beta Thalassemia
  • BREAST CANCER
  • Central Core Disease
  • Centronuclear (Myotubular) Myopathy
  • Cerebellar Ataxia
  • Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease
  • Chondrodysplasia Punctata
  • Congenital Aganglionic Megacolon
  • Conradi-Hunnerman Syndrome
  • Cystic Fibrosis
  • Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
  • Factor VIII Deficiency
  • Factor IX Deficiency
  • Familial Spastic Paraparesis
  • Fragile X Syndrome
  • Friedrich's Ataxia
  • Gardener Syndrome
  • Glycogen Storage Disease
  • Happle Syndrome
  • Hemophilia
  • Huntington's Disease
  • Retinitis Pigmentosa
  • Prostate Cancer
  • Sickle Cell Anemia
  • Tay-Sachs Disease
  • Von Willebrand Disease
  • Over 400 hereditary diseases

Unlike many programs offering gender selection only to very limited couples with known genetic disorders in the family we make gender selection available to all patients. Parents have come to us from from nearly every nation on the planet (we have assisted patients from 147 different nations) seeking to balance their families or assure themselves that a pregnancy will result in ONLY the gender outcome they desire. REMEMBER: Nearly all couples qualify for gender selection using the PGD method, which provides near 100% (99.99%) success regardless of sperm counts or gender percentages!

Family Balancing Scenarios

Couple 1
Mr. & Mrs. Adams (names are fictitious) present to our offices with a request for gender selection. The couple reports having successfully conceived and delivered three healthy females. The last birth was three years ago. Mr. Adams has a strong family history of girls being born, with his only brother having produced two girls, and three cousins also having had a total of seven female and one male offspring.

Mr. Adams underwent genetic analysis of the "sex ratio" (percentage of "X" and "Y" sperm) of his total sperm production. His ejaculate was found to contain 51% of the viable sperm seen carrying a "Y" (male producing) chromosome. His total sperm count was 38 million per ml. So, of the 38 million sperm, 51% had the correct sex chromosome needed to produce a male. After separating his sperm for the desired gender, we would be left with a sperm count of at best, 15-16 million. This would not be enough to allow for a reasonable chance of the couple conceiving with simple sperm selection and insemination.

Advised of the situation concerning their sperm sex ratio, the couple wisely elected to proceed with the IVF-PGD option. They were rewarded with a twin pregnancy that resulted in the birth of two healthy, male infants. While we exist to provide high quality medical services, we very strictly adhere to guidelines that have a history of providing excellent outcome results. While we cannot "guarantee" a desired outcome to anyone, we can now come as close to a guarantee as science allows. With the IVF-PGD option, success rates approach 100%. Couples in our program can feel comfortable that once treatment begins, they do have a nearly 100% excellent chance of achieving the desired outcome when pregnancy occurs. Consider the next scenario:

Couple 2
This British couple presented to us with a history of having produced three boys over the past seven years. With very few female offspring in either of their families, they were interested in sex selection aimed at the production of a female.

They undertook an initial telephone consultation with me, Dr. Steinberg, that indicated their suitability for our program so long as some initial blood tests the Doctor requested were in order. The blood testing was ordered from a hospital laboratory near their home in London. One week later, the initial blood screening results showed them to be excellent candidates for the gender selection procedure. Total sperm count on the male was 88 million per ml. Sex ratio demonstrated only 38% of his sperm to be "X" (female) producing.

The couple were directed to one of the several fertility centers in London that we work with who assisted us in the preparation of the patients for the procedure. They began their procedure under the co-direction of our program working with the medical team in London. Two weeks later, they arrived in Los Angeles. Their travel and lodging arrangements had been coordinated with our travel desk who had a car meet them at the airport in Los Angeles. They were transported to the hotel they had chosen and the next morning undertook the egg harvest at our facility.

After our modified sperm preparation separation, we obtained 34 million sex selected sperm per ml. from the husband. The PGD analysis of the embryos produced after insemination of the eggs demonstrated 3 healthy female embryos and 7 healthy male embryos, along with 2 abnormal embryos. Two normal female embryos were transferred to the uterus. The couple returned home after two "extra" days of tourism in Los Angeles and two weeks later a pregnancy test was positive. A single healthy female birth resulted.

Couple 3
Lisa and David were referred to us by a local fertility program near their home in Toronto, Canada. They presented to their local program with a request to assist them in their desire to become pregnant with a boy.

Lisa underwent a tubal ligation 3 years earlier after the birth of their third daughter. Lisa and David explained that they felt that they had "reached their limit" after having 3 children and undertook the tubal ligation. They indicated that with their oldest daughters now growing older and able to help with the youngest one, their thoughts had changed and they now felt that they could care for an additional child.

While totally content with their daughters, David indicated that he was very interested in seeing if the couple could use "new science" to help them achieve the birth of a son. Lisa was very supportive and indicated that she too was ready for another child. She indicated that gender was not a concern for her but that she was ready to support David's decision to inquire about our gender selection program.

They were told by their local fertility physician that gender selection was illegal in Canada. He did advise them that he had seen and assisted in the care of several Canadian patients that were being treated for sex selection at our Center in Los Angeles. He suggested to Lisa and David that they come see us. The couple had an initial telephone based consultation with us. This was followed by the performance of blood tests and a semen analysis that was carried out by a laboratory near their home.

We performed a sex ratio on David's sperm that provides us with very valuable information about David's capacity to produce male embryos. After we learned that the couple seemed to be suitable candidates for the procedure, they underwent their initial start-up examinations at the local center. We are able to interface with physicians near the homes of patients in nearly all cases.

Because Lisa was going to be 39 years old at the time of her delivery, the couple opted to also check their embryos genetically to make sure that a pregnancy with Down's syndrome did not result.

Lisa and David achieved a successful male pregnancy that resulted in a healthy baby boy born at Toronto General Hospital. Their referring physician has sent us several additional patients and two of David's friends have now been seen with a request for gender selection.

Couple 4

Dana and Terrence

Dana and Terrance sought our assistance with the achievement of a baby girl. Dana, was now 41 years old and she and Terrance, 45 years old were strongly desirous of a shared pregnancy. Both Dana and Terrance had  previously achieved pregnancies with alternate partners in former relationships. Given  Dana's advanced age for gender selection (prime ages 23-39 years), the couple were scheduled for our "embryo accumulation" protocol. We have had more experience with embryo accumulation than any other program. Knowing that with parents of "advanced" age, most embryos produced are destined to be genetically abnormal due to the age of the parents, Dana was scheduled to undergo three separate egg and embryo production cycles. The couple successfully completed their cycles. The first cycle resulted in the production of three embryos. The second cycle produced five embryos and the final cycle produced three more embryos. The embryos were then tested jointly. Seven of the embryos were found to be "aneuploid" (abnormal number of chromosomes), one embryo failed to amplify its DNA, two embryos were normal boys and one embryo was a normal female. The two normal boys were cryopreserved (frozen) and the normal female was implanted. Nine months later, the couple welcomed a healthy, genetically normal female baby girl.

Couple 5   FIRST BABY

Patricia and Brandon

Patrician and Brandon, newly married, learned of us from a Canadian fertility program near their home that they contacted with questions regarding gender selection and egg freezing. Brandon was 54 years old and had one prior male child from a prior relationship. Patricia was 29 years old with no prior children. The couple related to us that their pre-marital plans included a very strong desire to begin a family soon after marriage. They also indicated that they were very interested in a first child being a female. Patricia stated that she was a first born child in her own family and that she enjoyed tremendously the ability to assist her own mother with the management of her additional 5 brothers and sisters. With a large family in her and Brandon's own plans, she felt a desire to assure their first child was a healthy female. The couple sought gender selection services at home in Canada but quickly learned the PGD based gender selection process so famous at the Fertility Institutes was not allowed anywhere in Canada. A physician at the Vancouver center informed them that locating a gender selection program anywhere in the U.S. willing to provide gender selection for a first baby would be very difficult. The physician  provided them a contact telephone number for us at the Fertility Institutes. The couple first contacted an alternate program in Washington and were advised the program would not provide gender selection for a first baby. We were then contacted and advised they sought female gender selection for a first a baby but wished to also freeze any additional eggs and embryos for future use. The Fertility Institutes have a very liberal policy for the safe provision of all fertility services and after an intake consultation and preliminary testing, the couple easily qualified for their desired services. Over the next 30 days, the staff at the Fertility Institutes, VERY experienced in coordinating cross-border and overseas treatment cycles, had arranged local initial care and treatment monitoring for the couple near their home. The couple ultimately arrived at the Fertility Institutes. Multiple healthy eggs were obtained. 12 embryos were produced and tested. An additional 8 eggs were frozen and 2 weeks later, a positive pregnancy test signaled the beginning of what was ultimately the birth of a health baby girl.

 

dr jeffrey steinberg sm

Written by
Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg
Founder of The Fertility Institutes

Gender Selection Fees

Fees represent estimates for the average patient seen and are subject to minor variations (additional charges for medications are indicated as +Rx). Financial assistance is available and insurance coverage may be applicable in some cases.

Procedure Fees

Gender Selection

Call+Rx       $23,000 U.S.*

*All pricing is "average" and is an unrefined estimate for a "standard" single/couple. Fees may vary depending upon individual choices and medical situation

Call for Detailed Pricing

Donor Egg Wth PGD Gender Selection

Lowest U.S. Price Available
Please call (+) (818) 728-4600 or (+) (212) 725-1177 for highly discounted Donor Cycle Fees.

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