Designer Babies

“Designer babies”, a playful spinoff of the word “designer clothing”, is a term that originated from the media. It is used to describe the future of genetics and how scientists are now capable of manipulating a child’s DNA according to the parents’ preferences. This new innovation was first introduced a decade ago when parents were able to determine a baby’s sex before conceiving them, but has since advanced immensely. As most would agree, this practice of gene-altering in unborn children is unethical, but perhaps we are overlooking some of the positive effects it can have on our population. "Designer babies" is a controversial topic that has many debating whether the benefit of eliminating disorders in newborn babies is worth surrendering our ethical beliefs.

"Designer babies" are centered on superficiality and opposes the acceptance of flaws. Giving parents the choice to ‘design’ their babies is immoral and goes against our values. Without a doubt, babies are living, breathing humans with countless emotions - not objects. Diversity should be embraced rather than corrected. If couples were offered to 'design' their child's looks, it only encourages people to become more obsessed with appearance, rather than taking what they were given and making the best of it.

Despite the reasons above as to why "designer babies" are negative, I researched and discovered that they can supposedly serve usefully in our society. This practice can put an end to disorders or diseases appearing during the development of newborn children. If we can genetically modify an unborn baby, we can remove any potential chromosome disorders such as Down syndrome, Klinfelter syndrome and Turner syndrome. An article on TIMESONLINE tells the remarkable story of how a mother who had a cancer-ridden gene and was able to give birth to a healthy child. This was the first designer baby to beat breast cancer.

Designer babies have also served as an inspiration for inventions such as invitro fertilization, the process of injecting male sperm into the female embryo without sexual contact. Certainly, this gave pregnancy a whole new meaning. Invitro fertilization acts as a substitute for females who are unable to bear children.



A CBS News segment featuring two doctors and researchers debating whether designer babies is an ethical innovation or not.

Though eliminating illnesses and disorders in newborn children can be a remarkable feat, those who have such illnesses are not considered any less 'human' than any of us. I've seen people with down syndrome have a stable career and education. I'm not implying that people with an illness is a fortunate thing, but it's not completely devastating either. It teaches our society compassion and to not take life for granted. We don't need gene-altering, we need an open mind to realize that they can be perfectly capable of leading a life that we've living.

In conclusion, I believe "designer babies" corrupts our society’s view on imperfection and certainly sends a bad message. Parents shouldn't be given the option to alter their child's looks but they should be appreciative with what their child and themselves were gifted with.


Works Cited

TimesOnline: First Designer Babies to Beat Breast Cancer
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article1706614.ece

Bionet: Design a Baby?
http://www.bionetonline.org/English/content/db_cont1.htm

VIDEO: CBS News: Designer Babies?
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4840229n&tag=related;photovideo