In Vitro Fertilization Persuasive Essay

Life is a game of chance, and reproduction is no exception. Whenever a woman and a man create a child, there is always a risk of some form of genetic disorder caused by one parent being a carrier. However, with advances in technology made in the past decade, there is a way to ensure that a child does not have a disease that his or her parent carries. Even though this process is intended for good use, there are ethical misuses, just as there are with other medical procedures (Dresser 1). Although “designer babies” may not exist yet, parents are now using science to choose their child’s sex, and possibly even physical traits in the near future, before the child is even implanted in the woman’s uterus (Kolata 3). Parents should not be able to use this procedure unless there is a serious …show more content…
IVF has created 3 million living babies ever since its first use in 1978 (Wang 1). In Vitro fertilization is often used by infertile couples by taking the egg and sperm and joining them in a laboratory. This fertilized egg, now called a zygote, is implanted into the woman and the pregnancy continues as normal. However, when a couple is using PGD, a doctor screens the chromosomes of the zygote to identify the presence of over 150 genetic diseases. If no disease is found, the zygote is placed in the woman’s uterus, but if there is any disease present, the zygote is discarded. Using this process, it is possible to determine the sex of the child by observing if the Y chromosome is present. About 2% of parents choose to undergo this procedure solely to choose the ideal gender of their future child, costing them approximately $20,000 for the fertilization alone (Kolata 3). Although some believe that this is a valid use of the procedure, it clearly betrays ethical standards in the use of modern technology, as parents are essentially buying their ideal