Has anyone seen any Buddhist literature mentioning this?

Sabine

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11978336/site/newsweek/

This article's about choosing the gender of your baby. I was wondering, is there a general Buddhist view on this topic?

Xrayman

I'd say that gender selection goes on all the time-I'm not going to explain it in biological terms, but in a nutshell, this can (and is) acheived every day. If you want further info, then I will explain the ins and outs (yes pun intended).

The Buddhist view is (I think) that in this case, there is no death of a child, because only the sperm component of the child/embryo is chosen.

That's if you are alluding to this part of buddhist thought.

if you are concerned that "death" is occurring, then spare a thought for the other 299,999,999 or so sperm that die after conception occurs (Many of us could be considered serial killers!) teehee.

regards,
Xrayman

Simonthepilgrim

The "Buddhist view" about gender choice cannot be a unified, monolithic one because it is a choice built on a whole lot of other choices and life decisions. In this, Buddhism (through its active teachers) differs from, for example, the Christian churches in that there is not a concept of stone tablets on which the rules are carved.

So, the question is rather what would you want to do were you confronted with the possibility of making a gender choice for your offspring? What elements of your beliefs and practice would you bring to bear on the decision? How would you go about making it? Is the desire of a prospective parent for a boy or a girl arising out of ego-satisfaction? The situation, which I term the "social ecology", also plays a part: imagine that all newborn baby girls or boys were to be culled, how would that affect the karmic resonance of the choice.

As a sidenote, having worked with many transsexuals, I wonder what a parent would feel who had chosen (for example) female gender for their child, only for that child to grow up with gender dysphoria and the pain of reassignment surgery.

Sabine

Xrayman wrote:

I'd say that gender selection goes on all the time-I'm not going to explain it in biological terms, but in a nutshell, this can (and is) acheived every day. If you want further info, then I will explain the ins and outs (yes pun intended).

The Buddhist view is (I think) that in this case, there is no death of a child, because only the sperm component of the child/embryo is chosen.

That's if you are alluding to this part of buddhist thought.

if you are concerned that "death" is occurring, then spare a thought for the other 299,999,999 or so sperm that die after conception occurs (Many of us could be considered serial killers!) teehee.

regards,
Xrayman

Jeez. This made me crack up in the middle of the school library just now.
That's okay, I kinda get the gist... :orange:

Simon: That's what I was thinking of - if you made the wrong decision regarding this, would it totally upset your karma?

Interestin'. Maybe I'll check out some sites later (when I'm NOT in American History...ouch).

gregc

If you chose for your child to become male to continue the family name, then I guess there's no harm in that. But again, after rebirth, we don't retain any names of attachments to others in a past life. So I suppose it's like Simon said (if I interpreted the post correctly), it all comes down to your feelings on the circumstances.