Designer baby, anyone?

I just recently renovated my kitchen-- a change that was long overdue! The best part was gutting the old place out, and filling it with all brand new appliances, tiles, cabinets, and counter tops. I loved picking out the color of the walls, wood for the cabinets, and the perfect marble for the counter tops. Sure, I was kitchen-less for about a month, but the end result was worth it: my dream kitchen! 

Getting your own custom kitchen is one thing, but imagine getting your own made-to-order baby. You go to the clinic with a list of everything you want from gender to eye and hair color. After a little in vitro fertilization and nine months of waiting, you'll have your very own designer baby!

"Baby in the Box"
Photo courtesy of T.J. Hamilton Photo

Sure, it sounds like something out of a movie (Gattaca, anyone?), but this notion of creating a baby with specific characteristics you choose is actually not that far fetched. As Ferris Jabr points out in his article, "Are We Too Close to Making Gattaca a Reality?", this can, soon, become a reality. 

Since the late 90's, parents have been able to utilize in vitro fertilization (IVF) and a technique known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) to make sure their baby would not develop certain genetic disorders. According to Jabr, PGD allows for the identification of embryos that are most likely to develop disorders caused by a mutation in a single gene, such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, Tay-Sachs and Huntington’s, as well as disorders that result from an extra chromosome, such as Down syndrome". 

This method of combined IVF and PGD has also allowed some parents to choose the gender of their baby. Initially, this was done for medical reasons such as "avoiding a disease caused by a mutation on the X chromosome" (Jabr). Today, however, non-medical sex selection is becoming quite prevalent. In her book, Pink Brain, Blue Brain, Lise Elliot mentions that many doctors allow their patients to use PGD for "'family balancing'-- permitting parents who already have one or more children of one sex to select a fetus of the other sex" (22). 

Photo courtesy of GlamValley

New methods for gender selection have come about that don't require IVF. Elliot describes one such method, MicroSort, in Pink Brain, Blue Brain. Through MicroSort, scientists are able to mark X and Y carrying sperm with a fluorescent dye. The sperm are then passed down a long tube in single file. At the end of the tube, a fluorescence-sensitive cell sorter separates the X-carrying and Y-carrying sperm. After separation, the chosen sperm are used for artificial insemination that will, eventually, lead to the birth of a baby with the chosen gender.

With such technologies already in place, it is just a matter of time before Gattaca becomes a reality and people are creating babies with all sorts of characteristics they chose ahead of time. With such power, comes the question of ethics. Where do we draw the line for what is acceptable and what is not? In 2001, a deaf couple, Sharon Duchesneau and Candy McCullough, were able to give birth to a baby with one specific characteristic they chose for him-- deafness. This couple believed that deafness was a culture and a way of life and wanted their son to grow up in that culture, the way they did. Needless to say, they have drawn the attention of many doctors and ethicist who say that it was not right for them to deliberately deny their child of hearing.

While it is quite possible that parents in the near future may be able to choose everything, from gender to eye and hair color, about their baby, it is clear that many questions on ethics will have to be answered before we can start ordering our custom-tailored bundles of joy.

Sources:

Elliot, Lise. Pink Brain, Blue Brain. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. 2009. Print

Jabr, Ferris. "Are We Too Close to Making Gattaca a Reality?". Scientific American. 28 Oct, 2013. Web. 27 Feb, 2014. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/brainwaves/2013/10/28/are-we-too-close-to-making-gattaca-a-reality/