Christa627:As for the topic, the only change that seems remotely viable to me would be the addition of a gender-neutralizing suffix. So then we'd have "patro" for father, "patrino" for mother, and "patr + hypothetical suffix" for parent. While I'm not into tinkering with established language, I must confess to some frustration with not being able to conveniently express "spouse", "parent", and particularly "sibling", without specifying gender. A gender-neutralizing suffix seems like the solution that would cause the least disruption to established usage. But of course this isn't my hill to die on and I am content to continue on with the language as it is.

Interesting to consider: If Bob has three brothers and no sisters, his answer to "Ĉu vi havas gefratojn?" should technically be no, as it is not the case that both genders are present.

Nicely done.
Kudos for being an original thinker.
You were given a choice of two options, use icx to eliminate gender imprecision, or continue with the current system.
You chose option three, introduce a gender neutral suffix to eliminate gender imprecision.