Choosing daughters or sons: Do Australians have a preference for the sex of a first or only child?

The use of sex-selection technology is currently outlawed in Australia. The national ‘Ethical guidelines on the use of assisted reproductive technology in clinical practice and research’ (NHMRC 2004) state that ‘sex selection (by whatever means) must not be undertaken except to reduce the risk of transmission of a serious genetic condition’. Recent analysis of a large-scale representative survey found that 69 per cent of Australians disapprove or strongly disapprove of IVF for sex selection, and 80 per cent disapprove or strongly disapprove of sex-selective abortion (Kippen, Evans and Gray 2011).
These attitudes sit in tension with Australian preferences for sons and daughters shown in behaviour and attitudes. Australian parents are 25 per cent more likely to have a third child if their first two children are both boys or girls, as opposed to one of each, indicating that parents are ‘trying again’ to gain a child of the missing sex. Extra propensity is also seen in the progression to a fourth child if existing children are all of the same sex (Kippen, Evans and Gray 2007). These findings highlight the preference for at least one son and one daughter by Australian parents.
This paper uses data from a national attitude survey to investigates sex preferences in Australia for a hypothetical first born child and only child.