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It is now possible to genetically screen babies in the test tube or en utero for a myriad of diseases. Frankenstein assembled pieces and parts from cadavers to create his, uh, monster.) Medicine has long been using cadaver parts to shore up failing organs, i.e. cataracts, livers, hearts, etc. We now have on the horizon the ability to assemble some pieces and parts before a child is born. For example, eye color. There is a fertilization clinic in California that predicts that they will be able to assure a chosen eye color 80% of the time. Hair color, height, skin color or even emotional stability may not be far behind, according to some scientists who rationalize that if the science is available, why deny the consumer?
I’m not a big proponent of all things scientific being good. Just look at how science has affected the environment in the name of progress. Granted, many advances have had huge payoffs in quality of life, but some need to remain in the fiction section of the library for entertainment and nothing more. Just because it can be done doesn’t mean it should be done. But that’s just me. I can ‘hear’ the collective sighs of those who balk at my seemingly paranoiac backwardness.
It’s hard to argue the benefits of screening for diseases, although I tend to lean toward “survival of the fittest,” so I’ll leave that argument alone. However, when did we accept that we should control every aspect of our existence, or those of our unborn children? Where’s the fun in that? When I was having babies a hundred years ago, most of the excitement was in the anticipation of the sex of the child. Now we can pick their sex, and even plan the baby shower around the choice. Upon birth, we delighted in noting physical traits that reminded us of Uncle Harry or Grandma Ella. Of course, we might not have been too pleased upon noticing that baby boy might inherit Aunt Jane’s proboscis, but we were determined to love our babies however they were given to us.
Today, we live in a world obsessed with physical appearance. A person is labeled beautiful, plain, or ugly at first glance – what? maybe 5 seconds? It has never been fair, because people should not be held responsible for the natural looks with which they were born. Children grew up learning to live with the looks with which they were born; many accepted and endeared themselves to the eyes of the beholder. Love poems and song have been written about them. (Think of the song “My Funny Valentine”) Ugly ducklings blossomed into elegant swans, or not. In most cases, they grew stronger and more self confident in spite of the naysayers, and in spite of their looks. It’s society that makes their life hard.
I can’t imagine the fallout parents will experience if they choose or not. I just hear the pubescent squealing, “I hate my hair! Why did you pick THIS hair! Or the disapproving neighbors, “Can you believe they wouldn’t genetically exclude those big feet?” I guess instead of middle-schoolers harassing some sad sack of a kid, they’ll just toilet paper the parent’s house – after all they had the opportunity to build a better fetus.
What if parents don’t like the results? Is cosmetic surgery next? Will the doctor get sued?
Sigh, I guess I’m just out of touch. I sometimes long for the ‘good ole’ days’ when there wasn’t so much tinkering with nature going on. It just seems to me we’re on a fast moving train that’s about to jump the tracks.
I wonder if Mary Shelly could have seen into the future, would she have written Frankenstein’s Monster?
Can I order a kid fully grown?