DESIGNER BABIES
Claire Foster © 2006
Some people
think that in the future we will be able to specify what sort of children we
want: intelligence, blond hair, blue eyes, musical ability, sporting
prowess, etc. Science doesn’t allow this yet.
If
science did make designer babies possible, should parents be allowed to choose
the characteristics of their children?
To have a
designer baby, you have to have in vitro fertilization. IVF treatment is
usually offered to parents who for various reasons cannot have children in the
ordinary way. The mother has to take drugs so that she produces more eggs
than normal. Those eggs are then removed from her body and fertilised by
her partner’s sperm. As many as twelve eggs will be fertilised in
vitro. Then up to two embryos will be replaced in the mother’s
womb.
Once
conception has taken place, the complete genetic makeup of the future person is
present. This means that genetic tests can be done to discover increasing
numbers of characteristics, from some genetic disorders to social traits such
as sex and hair colour (though tests for hair colour are surprisingly
complicated). In theory, and increasingly in practice, defective embryos
are isolated from the others and not implanted. This is called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. In
Should
we choose the ‘best’ two embryos? What about the others?
Should the
testing only be for medical conditions or are there social characteristics we
should test for too? Suppose we could test for anti-social
behaviour? Some couples are very concerned to have either a boy or a
girl. Should they be permitted? What about hair colour and levels
of intelligence? The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority only
allows tests for medical reasons. This might include selecting for
sex. For example, haemophilia is only suffered by male offspring and a
couple may, therefore, choose only to have female embryos implanted, if it is
for that reason.
Even if it
were possible to create them, only about 50% of what we are like is down to our
genes. The other 50% comes from the environment in which we grow up,
starting in the womb. Genes are complex, they get switched on and off
depending on environmental factors. Even with designer babies, it isn’t
certain that you could control what your child would be like.
Do
parents own their children? Would creating designer babies make children
commodities? Suppose we could test for alcoholism?