A Texas couple take more expense to make sure that
their next child will be a little baby girl. Rose Costa, who is 36, and Vincent Costa, her husband is 37 and they already have two sons .
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Gabriel, 15, and Igor, 13 - and have never suffered from fertility issues.
But despite that, the Frisco, Texas, couple has shelled out $100,000 on seven
rounds of IVF in order to ensure that they conceive a daughter, and are now
expecting a baby they've named Olivia on October 31.
'It’s been worth all the money we spent,' Rose said
After growing up in a
house full of boys - she has two brothers - and raising two more of her own,
Rose was desperate for a daughter to do 'girly things with'.
'All my life, I wanted
to be the mother of a daughter,' she said 'I love my boys very much and wouldn’t change
them for the world, but having a girl is really important to me.
'You feel incomplete as
a mother until you have a girl,' she added.
Vincent wanted another
child, too, but didn't care if it was a boy or a girl. Still, he supported his
wife's dream to have a daughter and was willing to do whatever was necessary to
make that happen.
So in a practice she
calls 'family balancing', Rose and her husband elected to do IVF to ensure
their next child was female. The couple used pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
(PGD), a routine set of tests administered during IVF, to determine the gender
of their embryos - and then only implanted the female ones. The tests also
determine whether the embryos have any genetic conditions
I know it’s something a bit controversial, but I also know
that a lot of people, women especially, who have this kind of desire would like
to know more about this; how it works and what they could do,' Rose told Yahoo
Parenting of why she chose to speak out about her experience.
While selecting embryos based on s$x is banned in some
European countries - some people fear that picking and choosing embryos based
on issues unrelated to health will lead to 'designer' babies - it is perfectly
legal in the US. In fact, the New York Post reported that one New York and Los
Angeles-based doctor has seen a 250 per cent increase of s$x-selection services
in the past five years.
But that doesn't mean people don't have mixed feelings about
it - even in the Costas' own family.
Some of their family members didn't agree
with their plan, which involved using contraception throughout the three years
that they tried to conceive via IVF, to ensure that they didn't accidentally
conceive a boy naturally
While they have been actively trying for three years, the
couple first decided on their plan eight years ago - but they wanted to be
financially independent before they embarked on the pricey journey. That meant
going on one vacation a year, rather than three, and nixing plans to add a pool
and a patio extension to their home.
They also did not anticipate needing quite as many rounds of
IVF as they did. During the first round, all five embryos were male, which left
Rose 'upset' not to get the outcome she expected.
Then, in 2013, Rose had a miscarriage. But they didn't give
up hope. Rose said.
Vincent told me
that he knew how much I wanted a girl, so he supported me. He always kept
saying, "Let’s try. You can do one more time.
Finally, Rose successfully conceived a girl this year, and
is now four months pregnant. She's excitedly planning her all-pink nursery, and
recently registered for gifts.
'At this point, I just want to appreciate each moment,' she
said
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