Abstract

This chapter analyzes the case of Mrs M, a thirty-four-year-old mother of three daughters who lives in a modest home on the outskirts of a large city with her forty-year-old husband. He is often unemployed and in poor health. Mr and Mrs M strongly feel they need a son for support in old age. Health services are available at low cost at the local public hospital, where Mrs M arrives when she is about ten weeks pregnant. Mrs M asks Dr B whether she can have a test to determine if the foetus is male or female. Mrs M says that she would be willing to continue the pregnancy only if she would have a son. It discusses what responsibilities Dr B has in this case, taking account of the key medical, ethical, legal, and human rights principles.