[Voluntary choice of sex. The present state of our knowledge]

Whether we like it or not, the next demand that the modern couple will make after birth control will be voluntary selection of the sex of their babies. Furthermore, this selection does have an undoubted medical value in preventing certain sex-linked congenital or hereditary diseases. Many research workers have turned their attention to these problems over the past years, especially in the U.S.A., in England and in Germany. After a historical review of the progress that has taken place in this area a study has been undertaken into the actual state of research in the U.S.A. and in Germany, in which the country the Federal Government has created a special department for scientific research. Our present knowledge into the methods that are adopted to obtain a foetus of male of female sex up to the present is then briefly explained. The results obtained by the principle research workers have been summarised. These are between 80 and 90 per cent success. The steps that have marked these discoveries in this field that is ill understood by the majority of doctors and the French public are outlined.