Some things are great at first, but they get harder the more they're thought about. One of those topics is "designer babies".
Turn your eyes to the future where parents have the power to select their baby's eye color, height, intelligence, athleticism or even personality before their baby is even born. To some its achievement of science would appear to be remarkable. Others would view it as humanity stepping over a line which should not be stepped over.
I would support anything that would prevent a child from inheriting a serious disease or life-threatening conditon because all parents want their child to have the best opportunity for a healthy life and It would be hard to say no to using technology responsibly if it can relieve suffering in many cases.
Once genetic modification starts to impact preference, though, things get very different.
How does it affect the offspring when the parents start choosing traits just because they want a certain type of child?
One family desires a taller kid.
Another wishes to become an athlete.
An exceptionaly intelligent child is wanted by someone else.
These decisions might seem harmless at first. Parenting after all, involves making decisions which, they think, will benefit their children's futures. However, the influence of genetic selection is taken to a whole new level.
But the most alarming thing is that children might eventually lose their status as a person and become treated as a product.
One of the joys of parenthood is taking the chance to accept what you do not expect. There are no parents that really know their child. Each child comes with their own set of strengths, weaknesses, talents and personalities. It is not a particular trait of the human species, but it is a quality in the personality.
Expectation would supplace acceptance if we were able to design babies.
Think about paying a ton to buy a kid that has a certain set of characteristics. If it wasn't all the way they expected, would those parents love the child with it anyway? Or will the child be burdened with being a well-crafted investment?
Another is inequality.
The new technologies are not always at everyone's disposal at the start. The wealthy families would likely gain first entry. In the future, there may be a split between society's genetically enhanced and un-enhanced populations.
We can actually increase inequality, rather than decrease it, by creating an entirely new type of inequality.
What if the wealthiest families had access to an advantage before their children were born?
There is a possibility that the gap between the social classes may increase more than ever seen.
There is also a greater moral issue.
Who determines which characteristics are good?
Throughout the history of mankind, societies have been mistaken about the value of individuals. Some of mankind's most significant achievements have been by individuals who were not traditionally viewed as perfectly shaped. Many of the great thinkers, artists, inventors and leaders in the world faced situations that may have warranted them to be deemed "imperfect" by someone's other standard.
There may be a loss of variety in a world obsessed with genetic perfection that leads to creativity and innovation.
I also reflect on the traditional African attitude to children as an African. In many African cultures children are considered blessings and not products to be shaped. Parents' aspirations for healthy children are coupled with a sense that every child has come into the world for a reason and that he or she has many special qualities.
This attitude is one of acceptance instead of control.
It is not to say that the science is to be discounted. There have been many medical advances that have made a difference in many lives and many more to come. The problem is making sure that technology is not used to create human beings as personal objects rather than human beings.
There is a threshold I prefer to set for myself: I don't like to take steps to prevent sufferings of any sort, especially of serious magnitude.
The design of a child will become trendy, become a preference and become a social expectation, and we will end up with an above-average child who is not worth as much as his peers.
Ultimately, children should not be regarded as custom orders, instead they should be appreciated for what they are and not for what they are not.
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