Would You Design Your Own Baby?

If you could choose whether to have a boy or a girl, would you? What if you could choose what color eyes and hair your baby has? According to a news report I read on ABCnews.com, Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg claims he will soon be able to help couples have “designer babies”.

Now, before you get all excited, or angry, it’s important to note he has not done what he claims to be able to do yet. He has been able to help couples choose the gender of their baby, but the “little details”, like eye color, hair, and so on -- that remains to be accomplished. In the article, he’s quoted as saying he couldn’t promise a couple with 100% certainty that they’ll get their request, but with “80% certainty” he claims he could.

The technology he says he’ll use is something called PGD, or pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. It’s usually used for couples with recurrent miscarriages, to prescreen the embryos. The embryos are tested for deadly genetic diseases, before they are transferred to the woman’s uterus. (It’s called pre-implantation, because the embryo is tested before it is transferred to the uterus and implants itself into the uterine lining.)

PGD was never intended to be used for “fun”, however. (I’d say that choosing your child’s traits is, at best, a recreational activity – not a medical one.)

If you watch the video at ABCnews.com, and you don’t know what you’re looking at, I can see how you could easily get the wrong idea of how this may all work. I noticed in the video they showed pictures of a procedure called ICSIS -- where the sperm is directly injected into an unfertilized egg. (This is a treatment used for some cases of male infertility.)

To be clear -- this wasn’t a video of “chosen genes” being inserted into an egg. That isn’t possible (yet).

You couldn’t change the genetics of the embryos. What I think he’s claiming to be able to do is evaluate the genetic coding of a set of embryos, and pick one that fits the “request.” (Yes, that would mean throwing out the ones which didn’t fit the criteria. Not sure how I feel about that.)

Theoretically, let’s say a couple would come for IVF treatment, and request a brown-eyed, dark-haired baby. Let’s say that the mother and father have blue eyes and red hair, and so do their parents. Dr. Steinberg couldn’t provide this couple's request unless one of the embryos has this genetic code already, and the chances of having a child with brown eyes and dark hair, if the parents have blue eyes and red hair, is pretty slim.

So calling them “designer babies” is a stretch, no more than a marketing ploy. I think it’d be more accurate to call them “carefully selected embryos.”

Of course, what to call them isn’t the main issue here. The big question everyone is asking is -- is this ethical? Is there something wrong with trying to choose your child’s traits, or even their gender?

I admit, the entire idea creeps me out. I suppose if a couple was already using IVF treatment for medical reasons, and they already needed PGD for a medical reason, and it just so happened that the couple could make a few other requests -- maybe that’s ok. Though I couldn’t see myself doing it.

But, to offer this “service” to couples who do not need IVF treatment and PGD for medical reasons? There is something seriously wrong with that. Like, what about the fact that fertility treatments come with a degree of risk to the health of the mother? What about the fact that we’re not sure how IVF treatment and PGD affect the children who are conceived with these assisted reproductive technologies?

Some people say choosing the genetic traits of a future baby is playing God. I’m not sure I’d go that far, but I would say seeking out a serious medical treatment just so you could possibly pick the color of your child’s eyes is risky and petty. As for what I think about a doctor who would put a fertile patient and their future child at risk for a request like this? This is a family blog -- I don’t think I can use the words I have in mind.

What are your thoughts? Please vote on the poll, and share in the comment area below!