Gendering the beginning of life: Taiwanese gay fathers’ navigation of preimplantation genetic diagnosis-assisted sex selection in transnational third-party reproduction

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has been used not only to avoid genetic diseases and increase conception success rates but also to perform non-medical sex selection, particularly in the surging cross-border reproductive care (CBRC). In the context of commercialised biomedicine, assisted reproductive technologies, such as lifestyle sex selection, have been tailored to meet intended parents’ preferences. However, there is a lack of analysis on how individuals’ reproductive decisions on PGD-assisted sex selection were shaped within the sociocultural norms and CBRC. This article explores Taiwanese gay fathers’ navigations on sex selection while seeking third-party reproduction overseas because of local legal constraints. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 53 gay fathers (to-be), I analysed how ‘individual preferences’ were dynamically shaped by local sociocultural norms and embedded within transnational settings of routinising PGD in chosen repro-destinations. The findings showed that gay fathers mobilised strategic discourses on non-medical sex selection from both the local and the global to negotiate their decisions in coherence with their LGBTQ+ identity and their role as sons carrying familial responsibility to procreate male heirs. This article proposed a nuanced understanding of gay fathers’ reproductive practices of ‘gendering the beginning of life’ through PGD-assisted sex selection.

这项研究主要探讨了台湾同性恋父亲在跨国第三方生殖过程中如何导航和决策使用植入前遗传诊断（PGD）辅助性别选择。研究问题聚焦于理解这些父亲如何在当地社会文化规范和跨国生殖技术背景下做出性别选择决定。文章分析了个人偏好、家庭期望、性别意识形态以及全球生殖产业如何共同塑造了同性恋父亲对未出生子女性别的选择。通过探讨“生命开始的性别化”这一概念，研究旨在揭示跨国生殖实践如何与当地性别规范和全球生物医学技术相互交织，从而提供对性别选择实践更加细致入微的理解。

（研究对象同上） 数据分析采用了主题分析方法,并运用社会学的“生殖技术作为透镜”（reproductive technology as a lens）的方法来探讨社会规范和变化。研究者还特别注意了自身作为酷儿研究者的定位，以及与研究对象建立信任关系的重要性。

这项研究的主要结论是，台湾同性恋父亲在跨国第三方生殖过程中对PGD辅助性别选择的决策是一个复杂的社会建构过程，而非简单的个人偏好。研究发现，这些父亲的决策受到多重因素的影响，包括： 台湾社会的性别意识形态和家庭延续的文化压力（对男性后代更加偏好）； 对同性恋父亲养育能力的社会假设（如社会可能认为男性尤其是同性恋男性，不擅长养育女孩；他们可能担心女儿在同性恋家庭中成长会面临更多社会歧视）； 以及全球生殖产业中PGD技术的常规化（在某些国家的生殖诊所，PGD已成为常规选项，使得性别选择变得容易；一些生殖市场将性别选择作为额外服务进行推广）。 同性恋父亲们通过策略性地运用本地和全球的话语来协商他们的决定，以平衡他们的LGBTQ+身份认同和作为儿子承担家庭责任的角色。