Imagine being given the opportunity of selecting your baby’s traits such as eye and hair color, intelligence and athletic ability. The tremendous advancement in technology today has made genetic alterations in babies a double-edged possibility. A designer baby is a genetically engineered offspring that is created by fertilizing an egg with sperm outside the human body for specific selected traits. Parents who decide to have a designer baby can select their baby’s gender, appearance, personality and even intelligence. Since its discovery much controversy has occurred in whether people should have designer babies or not. Individuals supporting designer babies believe that it can prevent genetic disorders such as, Down syndrome, Huntington’s disease
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Considering that the procedure is rarely successful, it becomes very difficult for physicians to precisely determine the exact results. During the procedure some of the baby’s characteristics can be controlled. However, other traits cannot be controlled by the physician, but instead are controlled by their genes. According to research from James Madison University in an online article, How have the risks and benefits of designer babies created an ethical controversy?, “Because of this, a mistake in just one gene could potentially change the outcome completely of the desired baby. Altering chromosomes and genes also gives an increased risk of mutations and generic complications for the child” (Anes and Coceano). Considering these unsafe health risks, parents who decide to genetically modify their child will be disheartened to hear about these genetic abnormalities in their babies. Due to these unknown health risks, the survival rate of embryos undergoing such process is far too low. For instance, babies can potentially die in the process if a mistake is made. Hence, these dangerous health risks should discourage parents from genetically modifying their …show more content…
According to a journal article from Hamline University School of Law, Savior Siblings: A Legal and Ethical Perspective, “Consent becomes an issue because savior siblings have medical procedures done on them to help someone other than themselves, and in some instances may not be given a choice”(Berhagen 5). Regardless of how young an individual is they still have rights which should be respected. Parents who decide on having a designer baby solely for using the baby as a donor is wrong. The website SOS Children’s Villages USA states, “The best interests of the child should always be a primary consideration; every child has the right to life, survival and development; and the child’s view should be taken into account in all decisions affecting his/her life.” Parents who choose to have a designer baby as a donor are not taking into account the interests of the child and the risks to their development. The risky surgeries savior children experience constantly diminish their chances for survival. For example, if a savior child undergoes surgery in order to donate an organ, the parents would be putting the child’s life at risk. One cannot fathom how designer babies must feel knowing that their only purpose for birth is, in some cases, to secure their siblings well-being. Conceiving a child for this purpose
Considering that the procedure is rarely successful, it becomes very difficult for physicians to precisely determine the exact results. During the procedure some of the baby’s characteristics can be controlled. However, other traits cannot be controlled by the physician, but instead are controlled by their genes. According to research from James Madison University in an online article, How have the risks and benefits of designer babies created an ethical controversy?, “Because of this, a mistake in just one gene could potentially change the outcome completely of the desired baby. Altering chromosomes and genes also gives an increased risk of mutations and generic complications for the child” (Anes and Coceano). Considering these unsafe health risks, parents who decide to genetically modify their child will be disheartened to hear about these genetic abnormalities in their babies. Due to these unknown health risks, the survival rate of embryos undergoing such process is far too low. For instance, babies can potentially die in the process if a mistake is made. Hence, these dangerous health risks should discourage parents from genetically modifying their …show more content…
According to a journal article from Hamline University School of Law, Savior Siblings: A Legal and Ethical Perspective, “Consent becomes an issue because savior siblings have medical procedures done on them to help someone other than themselves, and in some instances may not be given a choice”(Berhagen 5). Regardless of how young an individual is they still have rights which should be respected. Parents who decide on having a designer baby solely for using the baby as a donor is wrong. The website SOS Children’s Villages USA states, “The best interests of the child should always be a primary consideration; every child has the right to life, survival and development; and the child’s view should be taken into account in all decisions affecting his/her life.” Parents who choose to have a designer baby as a donor are not taking into account the interests of the child and the risks to their development. The risky surgeries savior children experience constantly diminish their chances for survival. For example, if a savior child undergoes surgery in order to donate an organ, the parents would be putting the child’s life at risk. One cannot fathom how designer babies must feel knowing that their only purpose for birth is, in some cases, to secure their siblings well-being. Conceiving a child for this purpose