The Ethical Implications Of Designer Babies

Although this research has much potential, the adverse effects outweigh the positive gains. It may be beneficial because it can enhance and cure, but it is also unethical and ultimately causing problems within society. Mothers and fathers would be deciding a child’s genes, including interests, appearance, and talents. Which school a child goes to and which hobbies they take part in can be choices that a parent makes, which in turn hopefully makes the child’s life better. The parents making decisions for their unborn fetus robs them of molding their own identity because their physical traits have been chosen for them indirectly. Parents would become self-absorbed and obsessed with the idea of a perfect child.
Secondly, this could create classes …show more content…
This fear is evident in the case of the mouse that was “successfully” engineered to have a better memory. This alteration, however, was linked to a gene that also caused the mouse to develop much higher pain sensitivity (Simmons). The thought of this type of mistake happening with humans is terrifying, and it, along with the other points, provides a strong case against the technology. Designer babies, like most ethical issues, bring about many moral problems. Embryos are being thrown away that could still have just as good a life as those selected for without a disease. As in the case of Molly Nash, 12 embryos were created in the lab and only after a lot of screening was Adam born. This means, 11 other embryos were destroyed and only one was chosen to be born. This seems unethical because, the others were not chosen because of their genetic buildup. The very fact that all embryos have one thing in common: life, it is unethical to destroy them or in other words 'murder' them. Are embryos considered disposable? If the genetic engineering of the designer baby fails, you are losing a life that could've been someone if it had not been tampered with. Also, the genetic engineering itself may not work correctly. If the selected embryos are put back into the mother, they could have the possibility of not implanting. If they do not take, you are losing a life. Another way they could not work is once the child begins to develop, if the parents don't like the way it is starting to look they could terminate the pregnancy. If the process is not done carefully, the embryo could be accidentally terminated. If is a mistake is made then the next generation of humans would be affected. When in reality everybody is different and that’s what gives a person an identity and if we all look the same then that would be a world of chaos and if you're not rich enough then you’re put to the side as “the ugly