Beautiful Babies

"Love me the way I am!"

“Designer babies” is a term used by the media to describe choosing the characteristics of babies before birth. In scientific terms, it is selecting and modifying genes for desirable traits. This means that they can screen for diseases in the embryos and only implant the healthy embryos into the mother, creating only healthy babies.

Sounds good right? To scientists, yes, but there is controversy in the media. There are people who stand against this because of ethical concerns. The fear is that we will take this too far, and eventually start choosing the traits of children for cosmetic purposes rather than just medical.

Yes, one day it could be possible to decide everything from your child’s eye colour to their brain capacity. Today, however, we can’t do more than screen for heritable diseases. This process is called Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). This is done in embryos created through InVitro Fertilization, basically where an egg and sperm from the parents are taken to a lab and fertilized there, then implanted in the mother’s womb. During PGD, these embryos are screened for certain diseases, and those affected are not implanted.

To those who feel it is wrong to choose the traits of a baby, making them picture-perfect, those who think that in choosing their DNA we’re treating them more like dolls than human beings, I agree. We would be tampering with life, with the gift of a child. But, to those people, I would like to say that you need not worry about that! Not yet, at least. Currently the option to choose a child’s sex, let alone eye colour, is not even available. It’s possible, but not 100% effective, and nowhere near affordable.

Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis is most commonly suggested for couples with known heritable diseases, or older couples whose children would also run the risk of genetic defects. Personally, I don’t see the unethical aspects of this process. Couples who may not have wanted children, because of the risk of diseases being passed on, can now ensure a healthy child. People who would have had an abortion in light of bad diagnosis during pregnancy, could prevent this, and a life could be saved.

Yes, people could abuse this technology if science allows us to choose the cosmetic traits of our child. It is wrong to put a child at risk for superficial reasons, and I am completely against this. But protesting PDG because of these possibilities is like protesting medical school because you are against cosmetic surgery. Many people are against it because they think it is an unnecessary risk, a waste of money, or simply unethical. But even these people cannot protest research on the human anatomy and practice of safe surgical alterations. The ones that allow us to save people with injuries or illnesses, as well as make cosmetic procedures possible. This is the same with the concept of PDG. Currently, all this procedure does is allow us to prevent babies from diseases before pregnancy, and save lives.

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http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/273415-overview

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/in_vitro_fertilization/article_em.htm

http://www.babycenter.com/0_choosing-your-babys-sex-what-the-scientists-say_2915.bc

http://health.howstuffworks.com/

http://www.bionetonline.org/english/content/db_cont1.htm



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Interested in this topic? Wanna learn more? Want another opinion?
Check out:

What's Wrong With My Baby? by Claudia

The Ideal Baby...It Could Be Yours! by Dora

(You'll find my comments there, too.)