Are There Morally Problematic Reasons for Having Children - Essay Example

REPROGENETICS/ DESIGNER BABIES Are There Morally Problematic Reasons for Having Children Claudia Mills People have children today for many other reasons then just to have their children with the advent of designer babies such as to have savior siblings, or to have a child having all the qualities desired by the parents. Claudia mills empathize with the parent's desire to save their diseased child but thinks it is purely unethical and morally disturbing to create a child as a "spare part" using technology. A child has to be brought in the world for his sake and individuality, not as transplant material. Which would mean creating children who are only useful and denying the others, who are considered useless in their place. Children created for parents selfish purpose is associated with disrespect for life of the discarded embryo taking the IVF cases and more questionably creating the children for the desired skin color, potential qualities and emotional satisfaction linked with status and reputation. She further explains the "intrinsic motivation view" which is to have a child for his own sake and bonding of the family. The "indiscriminate motivation view" is associated with post conception and treatment of child once born. It is just unreasonable to become parents of fully made up child. It is just unacceptable to create a child for some selfish reason of savior child or conspicuous immoral consumption. The children also have a need to be loved for their own sake and to be valued as individuals created by god not by technology. And these needs have to be considered and loved. Which also means the parents to be "unselfishly benefiting children" and also parents being "selfishly benefiting form children" for who and what they truly are and not what they could have artificially made them. Designer Babies and the Pro-Choice Movement By Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow Today the escalating fertility industry has shifted the making of baby from bedroom to laboratory. The in vitro fertilization allows the parents to decide how they want their children to be made. And the most questionable, it enables the selection of desired gender. It is also a political issue related to social values and individual liberty. Designer babies, the idea itself tinkers with genes, and to play as god at the stake of humanity. Creating babies to cure diseases of siblings is different and to fulfill the cosmetic needs in a conscious environment of health and beauty. The new eugenics provides more reproductive choices and desired babies but a line has to be drawn to it. This can also have social consequences as explained by Lee Silver, Princeton this could develop a whole new species which would completely separate the natural class and Gen rich class. The parents then will have to insert the best genes in their children to get them into best schools. This can challenge the human race and humanity at large. This can cause extremes to the communities like the GLBT. In case a gay gene identification is made, this technology can threaten the community at large. It can harm the reproduction and abortion rights of women. There will be greater line of distinction between equality and inequality, as meddling with the environment has its adverse affects attached. The reprogenitics has given humans a choice over life. The uncontrolled use of reprogenetic technologies will have adverse implications for the future. Re-Engineering the Human: New Reproductive Technologies and the Specter of Frankenstein Brian P. Bloomfield and Theo Vurdubakis With the human cloning and creating designer babies, the human body can be looked as only a biotechnological experiment. There has to be some control on the pace as well direction of technology as it weakens the human values on the forces of scientific development. The creation of Designer babies, which is to re-make the body and society at large, is a dangerous threat greater then creation of a bomb as said by Joseph Rotblat, who is anti-nuclear weapons campaigner and a noble laureate and that this knowledge should be publicly banned. It will be very difficult for children to cope up with the fact that they had been selected by their parents just for their selfish purpose. The genetic engineering to create designer babies crosses the natural boundaries between natural and artificial, as if children are only commodities designed by parents. The precincts created by nature as human race, age, human desirable and undesirable, the life span should not be crossed as it will have an unending adverse effect on the moral and social orders of humanity. Routing the nature and creating the desired life would not be a restoration but can monstrously take over the human race and population at large. Stereo types and super humans will lead the race and inherent human values would not be respected. The nature of children will only be a matter of choice and not a chance. The parents selecting their children on what they desire them to be will not only be an assault on their identity and individuality but also batter the human self recognition. What choices should we be able to make about Designer babies A Citizens' Jury of young people in South Wales Rachel Iredale, Marcus Longley, Christian Thom &Anita Shaw Designer babies, the new technological breakthrough in genetics is being discussed upon world over. The research conducted by Citizens' Jury of young people in South Wales showed that a majority of population is positive about this technology and some are skeptical. The reasons behind designer babies are many like prevention of children having linked disease or genetic disorders by selecting embryos, a choice of selecting the sex desired by the parents, inculcating particular characteristic traits like intelligence and beauty by particular donor of embryo etc. The basic advantages of designer babies are: 1. It is a savior sibling 2. Prevention of inherited diseases 3. Sex selection According to the experts in this jury, the concept of savior siblings is widely accepted as it helps in curing dangerous diseases of the elder siblings. It also helps in prevention of the undesirable but inherited conditions or diseases in children. The idea of parents discriminating their children on the basis of their desire or particular purpose for which they were born is vague. They also support that the fact that it is a health service which should be included in the NHS also. Although making of designer babies for non medical purpose such as sex selection was associated with interference with natural process but the benefit associated is that the child is perceived utility of the parents and it's their possession. Designer Babies and 21st Century Cures By Patrick Tucker Designer baby is creating babies who are genetically advanced and enhanced over the otherwise normally born children. According to Ian Wilmut, the geneticist who cloned dolly the white faced sheep, cloning of human a cell which is the process for creating designer babies can be used to find cures for the very destructive genetic disorders like Parkinson's disease or Hodgkin's disease that harms many humans across the globe. This is also referred to as therapeutic cloning. Thus to find a gene/ tissue which is genetically compatible for the given situation can make a baby as desirable by the parents. Though designing babies is questionable on ethical grounds for the reason enhancements of attributes desired by parents but favors making genetically sound children for the treatment and precaution of various devastating diseases for humanity at large. Thus genetic therapy is and should be acceptable. With the breakthroughs in science and technology and media awareness, people have developed more faith and are putting in efforts to get rid of the otherwise incurable diseases. The infertile parents can also have their children born into this world as they desire. There are always two sides of a coin, creating designer babies has an optimistic approach attached to it, as this can expand the human possibilities and advancement required by the future. The future generations can be far healthier then ever before. Designer Babies: Eugenics Repackaged or Consumer Options By Stephen L. Baird There are continuous technological advancements in human fertility and reproduction from the time the first test tube baby was born in 1978 till the in vitro fertilization and designer baby technique, which is widely used today by many infertile couples to have their own children. Once upon a time it was only possible in thoughts and today is a normal part of life. The breakthrough in science and technology is continuously pushing people towards self improvement and modifying which is very alluring. The process of designer babies is a boon for humanity as: It helps in prevention of various genetic diseases and disorders which otherwise would have been impossible to cure. The children can be protected from devastating diseases and deformities, and provide emotional satisfaction to parents. Since many parents in desiring a baby take the help of technology and fertility clinics, investing their time and money in creation of designer baby will not only help them to get a child but a desired healthy child. Creation of designer babies is not immoral as many embryos which are naturally conceived are also rejected due to their defects in screening. This is just as natural and acceptable. It can be related to organ transplantation, which helps replacing dead or defective organs for better ones, and designer baby is the concept of replacing the defective gene to a better one. This way the child born from this process and his descendants will be benefited from the incorporate genes. The major difference is the entirely beneficial one that medical intervention need occur only once around the time of conception, and the benefits would be inherited by the child and its descendants. As our technical abilities progress, citizens will have to cope with the ethical implications of designer babies, and governments will have to define a regulatory course. We will have to answer some fundamental questions: How much power should parents and doctors have over the design of their children How much power should governments have over parents and doctors These decisions should be made based on facts and on our social beliefs Conclusion: The designer baby technology is thus associated with both pros and cons. To not hinder the advancements in science and technology and save human race at large, some aspects should be decided upon like the amount of power to be given to parents as well as doctors for designing their children, the governmental intervention in the matter and the choice of people to decide till what extent the use of this process is justified. Works cited page: Mills, Claudia. "Are There Morally Problematic Reasons for Having Children" Philosophy & Public Policy Quarterly (2005): 1-5 http://spot.colorado.edu/cmills/articles/Reasons.pdf Iredale, Rachel Longley, Marcus et al. "What choices should we be able to make about designer babies" A Citizens' Jury of young people in South Wales. http://dspace1.isd.glam.ac.uk/dspace/bitstream/10265/182/1/Iredale_CJ_Health_Expectations_2006.pdf Dubrow, Rebecca T. "Designer Babies and the Pro Choice Movement" http://dissentmagazine.org/article/article=861&print=1 Bloomfield, Brian Vurdubakis, Theo. "Re-Engineering the Human: New Reproductive Technologies and the Specter of Frankenstein". International Journal of Social Science. http://www.waset.org/ijss/v1/v1-1-4.pdf Tucker, Patrick. "Designer Babies and 21st Century Cures". "http://www.wfs.org/revwilmutso06.htm Baird, Stephen L. "Designer Babies: Eugenics Repackaged or Consumer Options" http://facultyfiles.deanza.edu/gems/hearnlydia/BairdDesignerBabiesEugenicsR.doc Read More