What is a Designer Baby?
A Designer baby is a baby whose genetic makeup has been selected in order to eradicate a particular defect, or to ensure that a particular gene is present.
How are Designer babies created?
There is a process that has to be done with just a few steps . Those steps include:
- Creating an embryo with in-vitro fertilization
- Removing a single cell from that embryo within the first 5 days of creation.
- Genetically testing the cell
- The Parents decide whether to discard the embryo or implant it in the mother's womb.
TRAITS TO BE DETERMINED
The traits the can be determined are listed here :
- Gender
- appearance
- intelligence
- disease
- personality
Pros and cons
Here is a list of a few pros and cons on the process of making/having a designer baby.
Pros :
- Reduced risk of genetic diseases
- Reduced risk of inherited medical conditions
- Increased life span
- Can be given genes that parents do not have
- Prevents next generation of family from getting characteristics/diseases
Cons :
- Termination on embryos
- Possibility of damage to the gene pool
- Genes often have more than one use
- Other children in family can be affected by this decision
Genetic Counseling
Many parents seek genetic counseling because of abnormal results from routine prenatal testing, a child with birth defect or genetic disorder, amniocentesis results that identify a chromosomal defect, and a mother who is over 35. Some parents may just want to be educated more on the inheritance, testing management, prevention and resources. Counseling is really used to promote informed choices and adaption to the risk and conditions.
Couple Questions
- What are the medical expenses?
- What kind of information can genetic testing give me?
- Am I guaranteed 100% that you can give me positive results?
- How is genetic testing conducted?
- How many times have you successfully done this procedure?