The Pros and Cons of Having a Designer Baby
At some point in your life, you'll run into the choice of whether or not to have a baby. You may say, " What are you talking about? I'm never having a baby!" Well, then you just made a decision not to. Maybe you want a baby, but you want it to have a certain look that you know isn't in your bloodlines such as blue eyes when your family only has brown. There's a way to fix your problem, and that is 'Designer Babies.' Designer Babies are babies whose genetic makeup have been selected in order to eradicate a particular defect, or to ensure that a certain gene is present. As amazing as this sounds, there are also a lot of possible cons that can occur.
The process of creating a Designer Baby is questioned often due to it's shaky moral platform. It is often wondered it the parents have the "right" to genetically modify their baby or if reasoning will become more superficial. Here are some of the cons with genetic engineering of babies:
- If process is not done very carefully, the embryo could accidentally be killed.
- Parents may use this type of technology for superficial purpose such as purposely wanted their baby to have blonde hair and green eyes for appearance only.
- Because the technology is so new to us, it is unknown whether genetically modifying offspring will effect the gene pool later. This could possibly cause difficulties in the babies family tree.
- The technology is only in the experimental stages at this point and is not 100% safe.
- Designer babies could also create a gap in society. Designer Babies could possibly be smarter, better looking, and more athletic. This might create separate groups between Designer Babies and Non Designer Babies.
- The procedure is very expensive and not everyone who wants the procedure would be able to afford it.
- Morally, the baby can't consent having it's body altered. This could cause people to think that Designer Babies are just not right.
Although there are many cons to Designer Babies, there are some pros as well:
- They install a better understanding of genetics for genealogist and biologists.
- It appear to increase human lifespan up to about thirty years.
- It keeps up with the modern technologies.
- They reduce the risk of inherited medical conditions such as obesity, anemia, diabetes, cancer, and many more unwanted traits that could be passed down from generation to generation.
- It eliminates mitochondrial disorders.
- They allow parents to give their child healthier lives.
- The procedure is not required, giving parents a choice in the matter.
- Taking folic acids during pregnancy reduces risks of the child developing autism. This is an example of medically altering offspring and it is considered ethically acceptable.
