Genetically Designing Babies

Genetically Designing Babies  

Oxford University Professor Julian Savulescu said it should be a "moral obligation" to design babies as it would lead them to become "ethically better children", according to the news source The Telegraph. The topic of genetically designing babies has been a controversial political issue and the specialist Savulescu explained that "we are now in the middle of a genetic revolution and that although screening, for all but a few conditions, remained illegal it should be welcomed, according to the Telegraph. While some continue to criticize that genetic alterations is playing against the natural cordial of pregnancy and birth, I personally believe that the parents who can afford it should genetically design their own babies. My target audience for this issue would be married couples or couples in general who plan to have a baby. 
Let me begin with explaining ‘what is meant by genetically designing babies’? Bionet defines advanced reproductive techniques that involve using In-Vitro Fertilization or IVF to fertilize eggs with sperm in 'test-tubes' outside the mother's body in a laboratory as genetically designed babies. These techniques allow doctors and parents to reduce the chance that a child will be born with a genetic disorder.

At the moment it is only legally possible to carry out two types of advanced reproductive technologies on humans. The first involves screening embryos for a genetic disease: in which only selected embryos are implanted back into the mother's womb. This is called Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). The second technique is choosing the type of sperm that will fertilize an egg: this is used to determine the sex and the genes of the baby.

               "The pre-implantation genetic diagnosis" (PGD) technique used by the Fertility Institutes to test embryos before implantation in the womb, which has restricted diseases like Cancer, Alzheimer's and even HIV/AIDS and other genetic diseases to pass onto the offspring.

               Let’s consider an example of this, according to a Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), in March 2002 “a married 30-year-old geneticist who would almost certainly lose her mind to early-onset Alzheimer's disease by the age of 45 chose to have her embryos tested in vitro for the diseased gene. She then implanted only the embryo without the gene into her womb. The result was the birth of a healthy baby girl who would not suffer Alzheimer's in her 40s. The mother in this case certainly knows the consequences of having a child with the diseased gene as her father, a sister, and a brother has already succumbed to early Alzheimer's.” There are several other cases in which PGD has proved to be very effective in eliminating diseases at the embryonic stage.  Therefore, for the betterment of the child we have attained a stage of genetic revolution where thousands of parents have protected their children by eliminating deadly diseases.

              According to the fertility organization March of Dimes, “1 out of every 100 Americans is born with a serious genetic defect.  Approximately 20,994 California babies are born with a birth defect annually. There are more than 4,000 known birth defects. Also, the birth defects are the leading cause of death in the first year of life and account for more than 1 in 5 infant deaths. For babies born with birth defects, estimated lifetime costs total 48 billion.” By spending $18,000 and using PGD if these diseases can be prevented in babies before birth; So, why shouldn’t the society be granted the privilege to save their families and genetically modify their babies?

            Another use of genetically designing babies is to choose the sex of the embryo using advanced reproductive techniques like IVF. In this procedure, the fertilized egg grows for a few days before a single cell is removed and tested to find out either the sex of the embryo or if abnormal genes are present. Doctors then choose a healthy female embryo without the faulty gene and implant this into the mother's womb to grow into a healthy baby. If you are wondering the need for gender selection? Determining the sex of an embryo can be useful because some genetic diseases, like hemophilia and Muscular Dystrophy, only active in male babies. If the parents have a history of male-related disease, then techniques such as PGD can be used.

               Now some may chose to argue saying that gender selection would be playing against Mother Nature. But my question is what is wrong in choosing the sex of your child? Parents have the reproductive right to select the gender of their children. They are free to select the gender of the child and shape their families; family balancing is a choice that parents must have.

In 2009 CBS news covered a story about Sharla and Shane Miller of America who finally gave birth to two healthy twin girls after having three boys. The fourth time she wanted a guarantee that she would have a girl. “when she stumbled across the Web site of ‘The Fertility Institutes,’ which offered 99.9 percent chances of having a girl. When asked aren't three boys enough? "They are. They're totally everything I could ever want. And I would never replace them and I'd never change anything I've ever done for them," says Sharla. "But they're so wonderful. Why not have two daughters that will be just as wonderful as they are?"

               So would be future parents, to sum this up, I would say having babies is a dream for all couples and to protect them for diseases is their right. Questions are always raised to most of the scientific developments, but I think it is only fair to accept them for our own betterment and protect our future.