“Genetically Engineered Babies” The accessibility and increasing power of genetic technology may one day enable parents the option of modifying their unborn children, in order to create offspring to reach their expectations. This option would allow parents to ensure their child would be free from disease, ensure them taller, muscular, intelligent, or otherwise blessed with more desirable traits. Science is becoming more advance and this option may be closer than we think. The thought of being able to pick and choose from an assembly line of characteristics for an unborn child may excite some people, but for me it is somewhat repulsive and gives off the impression of “playing God”, although in some cases I feel as though it would be an acceptable act. I do not think we are ready to embrace the fact that something that was once a natural occurrence could be indefinitely molded into a technological spectrum. We are at best a nation divided on the concept of choice but the opportunity to reengineer your baby genetically in the future, may take on a whole new meaning. Eugenics is the study of, or belief in, the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population. The most prominent form is seen in situations that discourage reproduction by people having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable, undesirable traits; as well as encouraging reproduction by people viewed as having desirable traits that could be inherited. In our world today the idea of being what the media would depict as “perfect”, is a non-ending issue that not only destroys the self-image and self-confidence of our youth, but has ultimately gone as far as considering manipulating and altering the lives of unborn children.
I feel as though it is okay to consider “genetic alteration” if your baby presents physical factors such as blindness, deafness or other major, life altering birth defects. I even support heredity trait alterations for babies that would be born with diseases that limit the child from living a normal, fulfilled life. Although pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) already enables testing for the presence of a certain phenotype, society does not consider this to be altering the genes of an embryo. Rather it is just choosing only the embryos that do not contain the genetic disorder to be implanted back into the uterus. I certainly agree with the practice of in-vetro and PGD; however, to consider genetically engineering your unborn child because you want them to have straight hair as opposed to curly hair or blue eyes instead of green, shifts the demand for genetic altering practices to create more cutting edge technology. There has to be a limit somewhere and deciding if your child will be athletic or artistic should be where the line is drawn. If we take away the idea of offspring evolving naturally, then we also take away the uniqueness of our society. Sure, it would be great if I were taller and an amazing athlete, but I would want to naturally possess those traits, not because my parents chose characteristics from a menu at ‘Build a Baby Workshop.’
In my opinion, ethics play a large role in this debate. Some people find this idea exciting and the
