Some people have ethical issues when it comes to IVF. Choosing how to have your children is an extremely personal matter. But IVF is a scientific process that allows a certain amount of control by external forces. One Australian mom is defending her decision to choose the sex of her baby. Caitlin Bailey went out of her way to make her motherhood dreams come true, despite her country’s ban on choosing the sex of a baby when using IVF. While she is not saying that everyone has to do what she did, she is speaking out to let people know that they have the agency to do what they want.
Caitlin Bailey, a single mom from Melbourne, has two sons and a daughter. She knew that she always wanted two children of each sex. However, Australia has banned sex-selective IVF for ethical reasons, news.com.au reported. So Bailey spent $45,000 to travel to the US to have the treatment performed in California.
Bailey’s story spread across Australia, sparking controversy. The 31-year-old influencer took to a local radio show, The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick, to defend her decision. It’s clear that the mom knew she was going to face backlash. But at the end of the day, for her it’s “my body, my family.”
“People don’t know me. The media will take what they want to take. I’d be silly to think they’re not going to do that. I can assure you that I’m a good person and I love my kids. I would do anything for my children, at the end of the day they are the most important thing in the world to me. I’m not doing this to make other people upset or cause controversy,” Bailey said.
Ultimately, she knew that only she could make the choice. While she said the comments “hurt my feelings,” she didn’t think she was harming anyone. Caitlin Bailey has shared her journey on Instagram. She explained that she started sharing her story because she didn’t see others like her.
“I’m not telling people, ‘You should all do sex-selection, and you should do this too.’ I’m just saying it’s an option,” she said. “We’ve got the technology and medical advancement to make this an option.”
In Bailey’s mind, spending so much money on IVF was more cost effective than trying to naturally conceive kids. “If I kept having boys I would still feel like I wouldn’t have felt that content feeling,” she admitted.
