How far is too far?

Everday new things are discovered, we went from the telephone to the internet. Our society progresses further all the time, espceially in science. People obsess over many things, especially when it comes to self appearances. There are countless things people do for beauty, but have you heard of designer babies? If you could design your baby and choose it's appearance yourself, would you? We've gone from designing articles of clothing to designing babies, how far is too far?

What is a designer baby? It is "a baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected by genetic engineering combined with in vitro fertilization to ensure the presence or absence of particular genes or characteristics." In other words, it is a process which allows doctors to screen embryos for genetic disorders in which healthy embryos are picked, this process is called Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). With this procedure, you are ensuring your child will be born without genetic disorders. Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis is an extraordinary discovery and advance in science. Designer babies are very beneficial to the children of the future, but designing your baby, is that the way to go? This is a complex question, with no easy answers, but i would say there are more cons then pros when it comes to discussing designer babies. A designer baby costs about $18 000, here would be your first con, why should anyone pay to "create" their own child; birth and the creation of a human beings is beautiful on its own, it's part of nature. I understand that society may want to protect their children from these disorders but that may be some people, while others may take advantage of this discovery; using if for more than just ensuring the health of their child. If society chose what their children would look like, from their hair to eye colour; creating things we are made to believe are beautiful, we'll lose the things that actually are, we'd lose our diversity. We would promote the "ideal" image that consumes people today. There could be more whites than blacks, causing hatred to those who look different. Everyone could want one gender putting boy/girl ration seriously out of balance.

As much as Designer babies are a huge breakthrough and impressive advancement in science, it has many negative affects. In my opinion I don't think designing your child should be an option, whether health issues or not, there are other options if you can't have children, you can adopt for example. I feel that if your child is born with a disability you just have to manage it and love your child no matter what, you learn from experience. Designing your child is a big decision, that anyone should seriously take time to think about before considering. 

Sources Used
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/pros-and-cons-of-designer-babies.html

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

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Pros_and_cons_of_designer_babies

Blogs Commented On

http://melissasbioblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/designer-babies-are-we-taking-science.html#comments 
http://shelbysbioblog.blogspot.com/