CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- The power to create "perfect" designer babies looms over the world of prenatal testing.
But what if doctors started doing the opposite?
Creating made-to-order babies with genetic defects would seem to be an ethical minefield, but to some parents with disabilities -- say, deafness or dwarfism -- it just means making babies like them.
And a recent survey of U.S. clinics that offer embryo screening suggests it's already happening.
Three percent, or four clinics surveyed, said they have provided the costly, complicated procedure to help families create children with a disability.
Some doctors have denounced the practice. Others question whether it's true. Blogs are abuzz with the news, with armchair critics saying the phenomenon, if real, is taking the concept of designer babies way too far.
"Old fear: designer babies. New fear: deformer babies," the online magazine Slate wrote, calling it "the deliberate crippling of children."
But the survey also has led to a debate about the definition of "normal" and inspires a glimpse into deaf and dwarf cultures where many people do not consider themselves disabled.
More at link:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/parenting/01/18/designerd.disability.ap/index.html
I can't even imagine DELIBERATELY trying to create a child w/ a disability! Any ideas why someone would choose to do this? 'Cause I'm really not getting it! I don't agree w/ the concept of designer babies either, although I do understand screening embryos for recessive genes that both parents carry. (To me, that's not the same thing as shooting for a 170 IQ basketball player.)
But what if doctors started doing the opposite?
Creating made-to-order babies with genetic defects would seem to be an ethical minefield, but to some parents with disabilities -- say, deafness or dwarfism -- it just means making babies like them.
And a recent survey of U.S. clinics that offer embryo screening suggests it's already happening.
Three percent, or four clinics surveyed, said they have provided the costly, complicated procedure to help families create children with a disability.
Some doctors have denounced the practice. Others question whether it's true. Blogs are abuzz with the news, with armchair critics saying the phenomenon, if real, is taking the concept of designer babies way too far.
"Old fear: designer babies. New fear: deformer babies," the online magazine Slate wrote, calling it "the deliberate crippling of children."
But the survey also has led to a debate about the definition of "normal" and inspires a glimpse into deaf and dwarf cultures where many people do not consider themselves disabled.
More at link:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/parenting/01/18/designerd.disability.ap/index.html
I can't even imagine DELIBERATELY trying to create a child w/ a disability! Any ideas why someone would choose to do this? 'Cause I'm really not getting it! I don't agree w/ the concept of designer babies either, although I do understand screening embryos for recessive genes that both parents carry. (To me, that's not the same thing as shooting for a 170 IQ basketball player.)