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Solutions To Designer Babies

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The Solutions to Designer Babies
Perfection in terms of procreating was once a sky limit that was unreachable. In the pursuit of procreating the most perfect children, today’s society has proven this limit to be attainable. The issue of “designer babies” has shaken not only are nation’s values on the introduction of new children into the world, but also our unity as a society on this subject. Designer babies could arise problems in diversity around the world, the outnumbering of women in some countries, and social advantages to the wealthy. Split into two sides, our society continues to shift between what we believe is right and wrong regarding this new form of perfection.
The future of genetic engineering (gene therapy) or “designer babies” …show more content…
It is always a constant battle between whether designer babies are ethically and morally correct or wrong. Another argument against designer babies is that they would it would lead to an uncontrollable imbalance between the rich and the poor. Ronald Bailey describes the cost of advanced reproductive technologies in an article he titled “Hooray for Designer Babies.” According to Bailey, IVF will run a couple about $7,500 due to the medical and lab staff needed to perform the procedure. Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis will cost an additional $2,500 (Bailey par. 4). To most that is an extremely large amount of money and to others it is pocket change lying around. There is a possibility that the rich will get richer, and the poor will continue to get poorer. As of now, it is not possible to genetically enhance physical or physiological traits, but in the future it may be possible. Parents, in the future, may be able to designate the intelligence, athletic ability, musical talent, and even personality type of their children. The parents who are wealthy and fortunate enough to be able to afford these reproductive techniques will be able to give their children an edge between what is considered successful in our society. Success for the rich will soon be easier to obtain. It is feared that a form of super humans will be created that look down on those who are not genetically enhanced (Bionet par. 3). There will …show more content…
One solution that could restrict and help condense the issues of designer babies is to restrict the PGD to couples who have the possibility of conceiving embryos with ‘dangerous’ genes, such as Down syndrome. This would be allowed for this group of people as these ‘dangerous’ genes have an enormous impact on the child’s life and health conditions. However, couples that wish to use PGD technologies to insert desirable genes or alter their child’s gender would be disallowed. This is because the insertion of genes or gender alteration holds heavier social and moral consequences – the creation of a genetically superior race amongst the rich people, social inequality, gender stereotypes and the moral values involved with ‘playing God’. Availability of the technology to a wider portion of society means that there would be greater and more consequences involved. By only allowing PGD to rectify diseases, a win-win situation can be created – PGD achieves the goal of improving the lives of humankind, and at the same time, humankind will not be

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