Author Topic: What is Church teaching regarding gender determination before birth? (Read 597 times)

lefebvre_fan · « **on:** March 05, 2010, 08:04:56 AM »

I'm curious as to whether the Church has ever either approved or condemned the practice of determining the sex of a child before birth (for the purpose of planning, obviously, and not for making a decision about whether or not to abort the pregnancy). I'm not interested in personal opinions or preferences, although if you have them, I certainly welcome them, as long as they are labeled as such.

Belloc · « **Reply #1 on:** March 05, 2010, 08:08:50 AM »

Not sure if formally, or not, but cannot see how they wouod approve such a violation of natural law.yes surgery can be used to repair defects, like heart,e tc, but sex assignment is monstrous and does nothing to help preserve life, like a heart surgery...

spouse of Jesus · « **Reply #2 on:** March 06, 2010, 12:26:02 AM »

The Church is against them. But some people justify this action, saying that sometimes it can prevent a disease that happens only to males. So, by making a fetus female, they save it from a life long disability or viceversa.
The other excuse is the idea of "keeping your man" and saving those marriages that are in the danger of ruin because the man wants a son, but all his children are girls. (don't laugh, it happens here)

lefebvre_fan · « **Reply #3 on:** March 06, 2010, 10:08:15 PM »

Oh, sorry, I think you misunderstand me, I wasn't referring to 'corrective' surgery or the like, but just finding out whether you're going to have a boy or a girl. I know it sounds like a silly question to ask, but then again, there have been other things that I've been wrong about. To me, it would seem like a prudent thing to do to find out the sex of your baby beforehand so you can refer to them by name, buy pink or blue clothing, etc. I know some Catholic parents prefer to leave it as a surprise until the actual birth, thinking it's somehow more traditional or natural. I've even seen some people claim it's the 'only' Catholic thing to do. Hence the question.

Edit: Upon further reflection, I can see that my original question is pretty poorly worded. Oh well. Sorry for any confusion.