The New York Times Magazine, Sunday, August 22 - Unauthorized ...

Letters
Hugo de Garis as a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein. What made this article more
nightmarish than Mary Shelley's story was the potential for these machines to
surpass humans and the possibility that they may eventually turn on us.
LEONARD KAPLAN
Brookline, Mass.
GETTING THE GIRL
Lisa Belkin's article (July 25) on medical advances in sex preselection was astute
and gripping. I was less concerned by ethical issues than by the women
interviewed, who were in such a collective froth to conceive babies with the right
chromosomes. (Interestingly, the husbands were indifferent on the matter.) "It
was like I was robbed of my little girlyhood," said one woman.
NELL BERAM
Cambridge, Mass.
Wishing for a girl is one thing, but being obsessed is another. Yet I do
sympathize. When I was pregnant with my second child (and I knew it would be
my last), I learned during the ultrasound that I was going to have another boy.
Disappointed, I went home, allowed myself a few tears and then gave thanks that
by all accounts my child was healthy. Not all parents receive such good news.
BARBARA REITZ
Hampton, N.J.
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Table of Contents
August 22, 1999
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