Introduction to Designers babies

Welcome to the 'Design you own babies' blog

We are hereby very glad to provide you with useful and accurate information on designing your babies. Whether you are a parent- to-be or just an interested passer-by, we would be very pleased if you could leave us some comments and your point of view. Every week, we will share with you letters from our loyal readers and comments they left. We hope that you will enjoy visiting this blog and spread the word so that more people will be aware of this new technology which will bring both advantages and disadvantages.

How it all started

Well basically, if it were 20 years ago, it would actually pretty much be a hit-or-miss affair on having a baby boy or a baby girl . It was not controllable, and you can say that it all depends on god. But hey! Not anymore, ever since the beginning of 2000. Parents who accessed to certain genetic testing techniques can now predetermine their baby's sex with great accuracy and we would like to share with you a successful case :

On August 13th 1996, Ms.Monique and her husband Scott Collins's wish came true when their long-wished-for daughter, named Jessica, was born, after a genetic prescreening at a fertility clinic in Virginia.


But this is all just the beginning.

Do you know that scientists and doctors predict that it may even be possible to find out an enormous range of characteristics ? Such as, a child's future body shape, their hair and eye color, their level of resilience to certain diseases and illnesses, and more shockingly, their IQ
and personality type.

Insights into the future

In fact, some even suggested that parents can someday be able to go beyond..., to elimilate undesirable traits and could start selecting genes that they want, like musical-inclined talents. Just like how pizza buyers ordering which type of cheese and toppings they want.

Here are some quotes from biotechnology critic Jeremy Rifkin-----

"It's the ultimate shopping experience: designing your baby," he said.

''Probably due to the fact that we already having people who desire for prefection through steps like going through cosmetic surgery and psychopharmacology. This is not a big step."

From what he say, we can see that a group in our community has already accepted designers babies.

What advantages does it bring?

Indeed, from what we know at the beginning, designing babies only permitted families to pick the sex of their child due to health concerns. (This is because that having a male child might not be good news to certain familes as a deadly X-linked diseases such as hydrocephalus, or water on the brain will mostly affect boys)

Some more quotes...

Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, director of the Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility at Cornell Medical Center in New York City-----------

"Our view at the moment," says , "is that these techniques should be used for medical indications, not family balancing."

Princeton University biologist Lee Silver, whose book 'Remaking Eden' addresses issues like designers babies------------

"When the world first learned about IVF two decades ago," suggests . "it was horrifying to most people, and most said that they wouldn't use it even if they were infertile. But growing demand makes it socially acceptable, and now anybody who's infertile demands IVF."

Ethical problems

Ethical problems about these technologies including debates over fertilized embryos that were frozen but never used,as well as what to do with the embryos left over after a successful pregnancy, multiple births and the risks that it brings.

We all know that infertile couples might never stand for it. As some societies value boys more highly than girls, such as China and India, are already out of balance; this could complicate the problem even further.

Gender-role stereotypes

Surveys in America has shown that there is a equal numbers of parents want girls as boys. But at the same time, showed that Americans believe that an ideal family will have a boy as the
oldest child. Boys seems to be more popular as they are 'more dominant' than girls, and could protect and take care of the younger siblings.


Another ethical issues raised by the public includes the possibility of parents using this technolgy to avoid having kids with certain disorders, which is not life threathening or babies destinated to be short or retarded? The society might get more inhuman, using the name of doctors who are playing god.
Will those children be allowed to be born?
Will they be treated as second-class citizens?
Will they be discriminated?

The main question is, exactly what kinds of genes will parents select, to enhance their already healthy children? Genes for cancer resistance, a higher IQ, attractive face or even pleasant personality? These techonology helps achieve perfectionists' dreams, but on the other hand, made the human race itself more competitive.

Who knows?

Okay let's go back to the present.
You might think this is ridiculous. But who knows ?
No one is definately sure whether these techniques will be available. But never underestimate technologies nowadays.

"Yes, theoretically you could do such things," Baylor University human-reproduction specialist Larry Lipshultz said. "It's doable, but I don't know of anyone doing it."

Is it fair?

Also, it is believed that such technology will definately be expensive. And there will always be people with enough money to spend on this. So does it mean only the rich can have perfect ideal children? What about the poor? Do they have to depend only on good genes and luck?

"There may be problems," admits James Watson, whose co-discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953 made all this possible. "But I don't believe we can let the government start dictating the
decisions people make about what sorts of families they'll have."

So what is your stand? Tell us now!

Here are some more responese from our fellow visitors!
Is designing your baby really the way to go?

When scientists are faced with writing a pros-cons list on designer babies, even they have to admit that the chances that things could happen are far greater than that of the good effects. The good effects includes preventing genetic diseases such as cancer, helping infertile parents to have children, ensuring that parents won’t spend as much money for the child’s healthcare in the future, etc.


The above mentioned are some of the great things that you want your kids to have, but have you ever wondered what will happen if the chances of the effects happening are slimmed down? When embryos are taken from a mother or a host, a minimum of 4 will be taken. Eventually, out of four, only 1 will become the baby. The others are thrown away. Genetic engineering could lead to parents choosing exactly how their child will act and how it will look. But have people ever thought how the child might feel?



When these babies are grown and told of how they were conceived, unlike any other child, what will they think? Will they think of themselves to be the “guinea pigs”, built in the lab and tested on such as a lab rat?


Right from the start, these children did not have the right to its own birth. Hence, you are looking at an unwilling victim that is being manipulated by its parents. So, I feel that parents should think twice when they plan to design their babies, because their children might be emotionally hurt in future when they found out the truth that their genes were manipulated.

Here is a letter we received from one of our loyal readers from San Fransico!
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I am a students studying at a university in America. I am extremely offended by this thought. Dont we all know that scientists predicts that there will definately be safety concerns; the risk of creating deformed babies is just too great. And, biology is not destiny: "What if you have been engineered to be a dancer and you're totally not interested? And is it that people with money who will be able to not only give their child a better environment, but also better genes?


Comments of the day : (2)


ABC says : I guess Gattaca or frankenstein might be produced as well? Since human are such curious and bold creatures...

Babyislove says : Somehow all these reminds me of Hitler. Only the good ones will be chosen to survive.

Here is a email we received from a lady from New Zealand to share with us her views.

Hello, I am a Catholic and I have 2 children, both girls. Some people may ask, “Oh, you have 2 girls? Why not try harder to get a boy?” I feel that we should not insist on having children of both sexes, although it is the hopes and dreams of parenthood to have both. Why not just accept what is given to you? Why do some people even try to design their own babies?

I believe that a child is god's gift to you; hence we should not try to create or design our own children. God has created mankind, so we should not try to seize control of our own evolution. We should let nature take its course, instead of trying to defy nature by creating our own children with desired traits.

Some parents are attracted to having “designed babies”, because this would help their kids to increase resistance to diseases, "optimize" height and weight, and boost intelligence. However, I feel that we should accept our children as they are, because they are created by God, and there is always a reason why God has created them as who they are.

Designer-Baby technology, or Genetic enhancement technology, will eventually transform our very beings, as more significant genetic changes are introduced into our genomes. This technology will force us to re-examine even the very notion of what it means to be human as we become subject to the same process of conscious design that has so dramatically altered the world around us.

People nowadays are taking technological advances for granted. Technology is there to help improve our everyday lives to be more comfortable and convenient for all of us. But we should not make use of technology to design our babies to be what we want them to be. We all have the right to control our own lives, so our children should be given the right to choose who they are and to remain as who they are.


Quote of the day :

Here is a quote from Dr. Paul Billings, a geneticist and member of the board of the Council for Responsible Genetics, a nonprofit group that opposes germline engineering.

"We are market driven," he says . "We emphasize the individual freedoms of scientists and others. The cow is out of the barn."

Comments: (1)

Could it be possible that one day we might give birth to a freak of your own design??

Hey all again ! So here is another email that we have received from our readers, and we thought that it would be another meaningful and interesting one, so here it is!!

Hello there. I am a Chinese living in China, and I am currently trying for a child.

Many people would probably say that designer babies are definitely wrong morally, and that we should embrace God’s gift to us, and not play with nature. However, I profoundly believe that designer babies would be the greatest gift to the world. After all, parents always choose what's best for their child right?

Just think! For people in China, we are only allowed one child per family. Many of us, including me, are hoping that we would get a son. A son can help in the business, and help carry on one’s family name. Especially for someone like me, who runs a million dollar company, a son is very important. Who else is going to take over my hard earned business? I am not discriminating against girls, but a son would surely be better.

Parents also want their children to be strong and healthy. However, we all know that this is not the perfect case everytime. Everyday, handicapped children are born. This not only devastates the parents, but is also a burden to the child. With this project, healthy children are a definite possibility.

Also, with designer babies, we would be able to rid the world of black sheep such as murderers, rapists and pedophiles. We would be able to choose decent and admirable qualities for our children. Wouldn’t this be helpful for the society? Look at where we are today. Crime rates are increasing. There are more hooligan kids around these days. If we were able to pick our child’s characteristics, then the world would probably be a safer place.

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Having designer babies would give parents the chance to choose the level of IQ for their children. Many parents would preferably pick a high IQ for their children. Wouldn’t this be so helpful to our society? Imagine many people with IQs equivalent or higher than Einstein, Isaac Newton and Thomas Edison! The speed of discovery would increase dramatically! Problems would be solved quickly! This would definitely be an aid to our beleaguered society. Poor countries can also gain more help if science and technology increases greatly.

In conclusion, I just feel that designer babies can be the key to a beautiful future for the generations to come. They would be able to better annihilate the dreadful things happening in our world now. They will be the key to a safer, more successful and enjoyable life in the future.

Designer babies - The Future?!

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Hello everyone! We are back with another email from our readers! This is a really interesting one, courtesy from an American woman named Veronica Adams. She’s a socialite, so read on to see her views!

Hey there. My name is Veronica Adams. I am currently residing in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and I am currently a socialite that is soon going to take over my family’s fashion design company. I came across your blog while surfing the web last week, and after reading your blog, my mind has been in a great turmoil. I have finally decided to email you about my views as I can’t seem to get them off my mind.

I fully support this project. As you know, outer appearances mean everything in my world. Whenever a child is born into my world, everyone sees if he or she is pretty or handsome. After all, who can be appealing and be a socialite if you don’t look like one? What is the point of having children if they cannot take over the family’s business and be a socialite as well? With the designer baby project, children will be able to have genes that make them look good. No one in my world would want to work with someone ugly as well I presume. Slimness is also another factor of looking good. Almost every socialite looks down on fat people in my world. With this project, my children would be able to have skinny genes, and not have to work so hard at maintaining their figures. Speaking also plays a very important role in my world. How do you take over your family’s billion dollar business or be a socialite if you don’t have good public speaking skills? Publicity and the press mean everything, and good speaking skills can help to clinch deals or sweeten your name with the press. This can make both your family and you be more famous. Therefore with the designer baby project, this characteristic can be injected into the baby.

Though this may seem harsh, but ii is actually in the long run, beneficial for both the baby and their parents living in the world of the rich. Thank you for your kind attention.