I don’t know if anything gets under my skin like this article about designer babies being crippled for parents with disabilities. We have all heard about trying to create the perfect child by genetically designing an unborn child. Which could be a good thing, expecially if you may have a defective gene that could predispose a child to certain ailments, and you want to make sure your child does not inherent this gene.

Well, the newest thing is creating the opposite for parents that are not so “average”. The article from MSNBC states:

And a recent survey of U.S. clinics that offer embryo screening suggests it’s already happening.

Three percent, or four clinics surveyed, said they have provided the costly, complicated procedure to help families create children with a disability.

Some doctors have denounced the practice; others question whether it’s true. Blogs are abuzz with the news, with armchair critics saying the phenomenon, if real, is taking the concept of designer babies way too far.




“Old fear: designer babies. New fear: deformer babies,” the online magazine Slate wrote, calling it “the deliberate crippling of children.”

But the survey also has led to a debate about the definition of “normal” and inspires a glimpse into deaf and dwarf cultures where many people do not consider themselves disabled.

After reading this, I was disgusted at how selfish this is of the disabled parents. You want to cripple an unborn child without its consent just so you feel more comfortable raising it, or it’s more convenient? I would love to hear what the parents have to say after the child asks why he is the way he is. Could you imagine how you would feel if you were designed to suffer from all the judgments and ridicule that people with disabilities deal with on a daily basis?

Gibson and Cara Reynolds (pictured above) of Collingswood, N.J., are madened by the opposition to allow dwarf people to create dwarf children through “screening”. “You cannot tell me that I cannot have a child who’s going to look like me,” Cara Reynolds said. “It’s just unbelievably presumptuous and they’re playing God.”

What? Who is playing God here? The ones that think if you want to have a dwarf child, do it the natural way, or the one that wants to go into the DNA and change the outcome of the baby? In my opinion, if you don’t want anyone playing God, then let the embryo remain untouched. This way you let nature take its course.

Well, the bright side of this is a recent, though non-scientific, survey displayed that 93% of Americans think this is wrong and amounts to the deliberate crippling of children. For once, I actually think America got this one right. What do you think? I would love to hear what you have to say about this hot topic.