Choosing the sex of babies: ethical debate

This cross-curricular activity is designed to get Key Stage Four students thinking about the moral and ethical implications of sex selection. The resources will encourage students to form their own opinion and share it with the rest of the class. The activity is relevant to Key Stage Four science, citizenship and English syllabuses and develops skills in considering other people’s experiences, thinking about, expressing, explaining and critically evaluating views that are not their own. Through this activity, students learn about developments in science which now make it possible for parents to select for a boy or a girl baby, and that sex selection can be achieved in one of three ways: sperm sorting; preimplantation genetic diagnosis; and termination.