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Feedback on LNAT Essay

Hi! Does anyone mind giving me feedback on this practice LNAT essay that I've done? Thank you in advance.

In the future, should parents be able to choose the sex of their children?

In the future, parents should not be able to choose the sex of their children. Parents are able to do this through IVF, for example. Although some may argue that in some circumstances, parents should be able to choose the sex, this gives way to males being preferred to females on an alarming level.

It might be argued that parents should be able to choose the sex of their children as some parents have a preference. Say a parent has four male children and wishes to have a female child. The parent has been trying for a daughter for years. However, all four children she had turned out to be male. The parent is now trying for a fifth child and has a strong desire for the child to be female. To ensure she has a daughter and not a son, the parent wants to be able to choose a child through a certain scientific process. In this case, it may be argued that the parent should be able to choose the sex of her fifth child. It is not harming anyone so what is the problem?

The main problem with allowing parents to be able to choose the sex of their children is that it risks males being preferred significantly over females. In many instances, sons are preferred to daughters as parents believe sons will take care of them in their old age. It is perceived that sons are more responsible, intelligent and are able to protect their family than daughters, which is why daughters are subordinate to sons in many cultures. So, if parents were given the choice of a son or a daughter, it is reasonable to expect that many will choose the son over the daughter. This is unethical as it feeds on to the gender inequality that is already so present in our world today. It insinuates that men are more worthy than women. Because of this, it may soon be the case that there is an imbalance of the number of males and the number of females in the world, with men being more common in numbers than women.

To conclude, although in the example given in the first point this is not a problem, it is still risky for parents to be able to choose the sex of their children. Circumstances like those are rare, and most of the time, this freedom to choose the sex will be abused. If parents are given this choice, there should at least be a very rigorous process for this to prevent males from being significantly preferred to females. One way this can be done is to only allow the parents to choose the sex if their circumstance is like the one mentioned in the first point.
Hi, overall, I think your point is good but your second paragraph is a little repetitive. Other than that, maybe you could have expanded on why there being more males than females would be bad, in terms of the population and the future of the human race. The only big issue I noticed was that at the end you say that in situations like the one you described in the second paragraph, parents choosing the sex of their children could be allowed, but this seemed a little contradictory to me. The point of your essay was that parents should not be allowed to choose but at the end you say they can sometimes - which is fine but it would be better if you introduced that idea at the beginning.

Overall though solid argument and structure. Good luck with your test!
Original post by aaanonymousss
Hi! Does anyone mind giving me feedback on this practice LNAT essay that I've done? Thank you in advance.

In the future, should parents be able to choose the sex of their children?

In the future, parents should not be able to choose the sex of their children. Parents are able to do this through IVF, for example. Although some may argue that in some circumstances, parents should be able to choose the sex, this gives way to males being preferred to females on an alarming level.

It might be argued that parents should be able to choose the sex of their children as some parents have a preference. Say a parent has four male children and wishes to have a female child. The parent has been trying for a daughter for years. However, all four children she had turned out to be male. The parent is now trying for a fifth child and has a strong desire for the child to be female. To ensure she has a daughter and not a son, the parent wants to be able to choose a child through a certain scientific process. In this case, it may be argued that the parent should be able to choose the sex of her fifth child. It is not harming anyone so what is the problem?

The main problem with allowing parents to be able to choose the sex of their children is that it risks males being preferred significantly over females. In many instances, sons are preferred to daughters as parents believe sons will take care of them in their old age. It is perceived that sons are more responsible, intelligent and are able to protect their family than daughters, which is why daughters are subordinate to sons in many cultures. So, if parents were given the choice of a son or a daughter, it is reasonable to expect that many will choose the son over the daughter. This is unethical as it feeds on to the gender inequality that is already so present in our world today. It insinuates that men are more worthy than women. Because of this, it may soon be the case that there is an imbalance of the number of males and the number of females in the world, with men being more common in numbers than women.

To conclude, although in the example given in the first point this is not a problem, it is still risky for parents to be able to choose the sex of their children. Circumstances like those are rare, and most of the time, this freedom to choose the sex will be abused. If parents are given this choice, there should at least be a very rigorous process for this to prevent males from being significantly preferred to females. One way this can be done is to only allow the parents to choose the sex if their circumstance is like the one mentioned in the first point.

This is my answer to the same question, any feedback would be appreciated. Also, how did your LNAT go?

A childs' sex is a fact of biology; whether or not the child may grow up to identify as a different gender is entirely their decision, and this question relates more to the moral issues and practical benefits of parents predetermining their childs' sex. I believe that this medical advancement would not only enable certain countries to deal with lasting implications of the slave trade, but also give families across the world more of a say in their future.

In many African countries where slaves were sold during the 1800s, there is a gender imbalance that is causing serious issues for their society. The vast majority of slaves abducted from these countries were male, leading to a largely female demographic in many African nations affected by the slave trade to this day. While there are doubtless other more important issues causing the high birth rate of these countries, such as barriers in employement for women and traditional values, the fact that there are more females than men means more babies are born, contributing to a largely youthful population structure that leads to unemployement and crime. The medical advancement posited by the question would allow parents to choose to have male children, thereby tackling this demographic imbalance. Government incentives could be introduced to encourage more parents to make this decision, and while this line would have to be tread carefully, it would go along way to adressing the societal issues caused by a youthful population. However the benefit of this advancement would not only be felt in African nations.

Giving parents this option gives them more of a choice in their families future. In countries where women are subject to discrimination, parents could choose to have a boy. While this is by no means a method of tackling discrimination, it does give parents more control over the future of their child. Individual parents cannot deal with widespread cultural discrimination on their own, but with this decision they can choose to spare their child of it. Also, parents who wish to have a girl can choose to have a girl, doubtless increasing their happiness. A foetus has no understanding of how its' sex is decided, is it not more beneficial to allow parents to gain from what is at the moment an arbitrary process, as it will have no negative impact on the child? Some may say that if the procedure goes wrong and the child is not born to the sex the parents chose, that they may feel unwanted or like a burden. While this is true, it is by no means a strong enough argument to halt scientific progress that will have widely positive applications for the world at large. As long as the risk of failure is minimised, progress should carry on.

Giving parents a say in their childs' sex would be extremely benificial in dealing with demographic issues as well as increasing the freedom of parents when planning their families. While this choice will have little to no effect on the child themselves, it has immense benefits for not only each individual family, but also the wider global community.

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