Actor Brian Austin Green (perhaps best known for “Beverly Hills 90210”) and his fiancée, “Dancing With The Stars” regular Sharna Burgess, have opened up about their blended family and future — including their plan to undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF) solely so they can choose the gender of their next child.
Burgess recently appeared on the “Money Rehab” podcast, according to PEOPLE, discussing her positive relationship with Green’s other children — who helped Green propose to her. “It’s so beautiful. First of all, they make it easy. They’re incredible kids,” she said. “Brian and Megan did such an amazing job. Kass is also an amazing kid. There’s been no resistance. I have a beautiful relationship with them.”
Burgess also said she wants to add to their family very soon, because she wants to be “as young as I can possibly be” when trying to conceive. Burgess is 39, while Green is 51. While Burgess did not detail any potential fertility problems, she said she wants to undergo IVF to guarantee a girl since they currently have all boys.
“I think we’ll do gender selection and do IVF because [Brian is] five for five on boys,” she said. “Who’s gonna take a chance on that?”
READ: SNL ‘abortion clown’ comedian Cecily Strong gives birth to baby after IVF
This kind of commodifying mindset was also displayed by reality star Paris Hilton, who said she wanted to use IVF so she could choose the gender of her children or have twins if she felt like it. And thanks to the unregulated fertility industry, the dehumanization of children, turning them into products to be purchased rather than human beings, has flourished.
Embryo screening, in which parents can test their offspring for any potential disorders or diseases, is already incredibly common — and embryos found to have any defects are destroyed.
Some individuals, like Burgess, use it to engineer the exact kind of child they want. One mother attempted to trade her frozen female embryo for a male embryo because her five-year-old son wanted a brother, not a sister. Other embryos have been fought over as property in custody battles… and even turned into jewelry. And all the while, the IVF industry encourages the commodification of children, with volume discounts, money-back guarantees, and even lotteries to “win” babies.
