Pre-natal testing for desirable babies

kokonut

kokonut

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Imagine being pregnant and taking a simple blood test that lays bare the DNA of your fetus. And suppose that DNA could reveal not only medical conditions like Down syndrome, but also things like eye color and height. And the risk for developing depression or Alzheimer's disease. And the chances of being gay.

So far that's still science fiction. But scientists have been taking some baby steps in that direction. And some ethics experts say it's time to start talking now about what that could mean for parents and society.
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And that include the possibility of the deafness gene, too.

Wanting desirable babies while getting rid the of the undesirable ones, hmmm?

But, wait, there's more!

Skotko points out that people use their own personal perspective in deciding what they want for their children. Some couples who are deaf from a genetic condition already use current technology to avoid having children with normal hearing. "It's their lens by which they view the world, and they want a child who views the world through that same lens," he said.
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Could prenatal DNA testing open Pandora's box? - Yahoo! News

And just when you thought it was over.....old news become new news with today's news.

DEAF parents should be allowed to screen their embryos so they can pick a deaf child over one that has all its senses intact, according to the chief executive of the Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People (RNID).
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Deaf demand right to designer deaf children - Times Online

Aborting human embryos that don't meet the parents' criteria.
 
so... what's your stance on it?
 
Hitler was doing something similar years ago. People who don't learn from history...
 
Bottesini said:
Hitler was doing something similar years ago. People who don't learn from history...
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Does that mean DEAF parents should not be allowed to screen their embryos so they can pick a deaf child?
 
kokonut said:
Ok, if I understand, then that means it goes both ways between Deaf and hearing parents on selecting a desirable trait?
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this is a rather very poor way of doing this. have you no shame?

btw - don't shrug too hard. you'll cause a genetic defect.
 
The above has been discussed many times. At the present time- reality is:90- 95% of ALL babies born "deaf' have HEARING PARENTS. Remember the conference at Milan-1880 "banning the use of ASL" with consequence all deaf persons should be taught to speak. The above was discussed as well. The supposed solution: 2 deaf persons should NOT be allowed to married without being "sterilized". This is what I understand- I personally wasn't there- not old enough!

Perhaps a simple test is not exactly predictive- to say the least.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
Genetic conditions which lead to deafness (as opposed to acquired ones) can already be diagnosed not only during pregnancy, but before the pregnancy exists via pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.

The science to select a deaf embryo or a hearing embryo, if you are a carrier for a genetic condition which causes deafness, is already here.

The science to diagnose acquired deafness will never be here.

It is not a past-tense ethical debate, but quite a present one.
 
So, if given the choice, Deaf parents would choose a deaf embryo over a hearing one? Why? That stings. If my mom did that then I wouldn't exist.

How about just love your baby no matter what you get? I always said even though I am hearing if I had a deaf baby it would be no difference. The fact that I am already fluent with ASL probably helps my perspective but still. You're supposed to love your baby no matter what you get.
 
traciedantoni said:
So, if given the choice, Deaf parents would choose a deaf embryo over a hearing one? Why? That stings. If my mom did that then I wouldn't exist.

How about just love your baby no matter what you get? I always said even though I am hearing if I had a deaf baby it would be no difference. The fact that I am already fluent with ASL probably helps my perspective but still. You're supposed to love your baby no matter what you get.
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People want reflections of themselves.

A lot of things could have led to you not existing. If you spend too much time considering them, your head may esplode.
 
traciedantoni said:
So, if given the choice, Deaf parents would choose a deaf embryo over a hearing one? Why? That stings. If my mom did that then I wouldn't exist.

How about just love your baby no matter what you get? I always said even though I am hearing if I had a deaf baby it would be no difference. The fact that I am already fluent with ASL probably helps my perspective but still. You're supposed to love your baby no matter what you get.
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Some people are just narcissistic and assholes by wanting designer babies to use them as a reflection of themselves.

Luckily, most of us arent like that.
 
Aleser said:
People want reflections of themselves.
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That's true but don't parents want their children to have easier lives than they had? Not that being hearing is better but it's definitely easier. Last year my mom and I went on a deaf cruise and I tried being deaf for a week. I started at the airport and pretended to be deaf. Trying to write down my orders for food and communicate with airport people frustrated me so much that by end of day 2 I gave up. My mom appreciated that I tried to see how hard it is to be deaf in a hearing world so back to my question: wouldn't deaf parents want their kids to have an easier life than they had? Therefore, picking a deaf child just to have a reflection of oneself seems selfish. It would be no different than parents with dwarfism choosing to have dwarf babies knowing full well that life is going to be much harder than it is already.

jmo.
 
traciedantoni said:
That's true but don't parents want their children to have easier lives than they had? Not that being hearing is better but it's definitely easier. Last year my mom and I went on a deaf cruise and I tried being deaf for a week. I started at the airport and pretended to be deaf. Trying to write down my orders for food and communicate with airport people frustrated me so much that by end of day 2 I gave up. My mom appreciated that I tried to see how hard it is to be deaf in a hearing world so back to my question: wouldn't deaf parents want their kids to have an easier life than they had? Therefore, picking a deaf child just to have a reflection of oneself seems selfish. It would be no different than parents with dwarfism choosing to have dwarf babies knowing full well that life is going to be much harder than it is already.

jmo.
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So, do you think hearing parents picking a hearing child over a deaf child is right?

I wouldnt be heartbroken if I had a deaf child but I would never put myself in the position of having to choose.
 
traciedantoni said:
That's true but don't parents want their children to have easier lives than they had? Not that being hearing is better but it's definitely easier. Last year my mom and I went on a deaf cruise and I tried being deaf for a week. I started at the airport and pretended to be deaf. Trying to write down my orders for food and communicate with airport people frustrated me so much that by end of day 2 I gave up. My mom appreciated that I tried to see how hard it is to be deaf in a hearing world so back to my question: wouldn't deaf parents want their kids to have an easier life than they had? Therefore, picking a deaf child just to have a reflection of oneself seems selfish. It would be no different than parents with dwarfism choosing to have dwarf babies knowing full well that life is going to be much harder than it is already.

jmo.
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By that line of thinking, why don't black parents in a white-majority country entrenched in white privilege (like the US, where I live) choose to have white babies? It shouldn't matter that the baby doesn't look like them, right, because they're just picking what is likely to be the easiest configuration for their child.

After all, white babies will have a lot more privileges in life than black babies will. You have to admit, life is harder for black people in white majority countries than it is for white people.

See where this goes?

Despite knowing deaf people, you are an outsider to deafness. Your one week experiment in no way reflects the actual experiences of deaf people.

Choosing one embryo over another isn't choosing some different life course for one child, it is choosing to create a different child. They are not "choosing for their child to be deaf", they are choosing to have a deaf child- and there's a pretty big difference between those two things!
 
Aleser said:
Despite knowing deaf people, you are an outsider to deafness. Your one week experiment in no way reflects the actual experiences of deaf people.

Choosing one embryo over another isn't choosing some different life course for one child, it is choosing to create a different child. They are not "choosing for their child to be deaf", they are choosing to have a deaf child- and there's a pretty big difference between those two things!
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I don't just "know" deaf people, I was raised by them. I had to interpret for my mom EVERYWHERE we went for as long as I can remember. Earliest memory of it goes back to when I was 6. Why did I have to do that? Because it was easier for my mom to have me help her than to constantly have to ask for paper and something to write with.

I see what you're saying about choosing to have a deaf child. Still seems selfish to me. I resort back to my original comment. No designer babies, no choosing embryos. Leave it to nature and love what you get. Period.
 
traciedantoni said:
I don't just "know" deaf people, I was raised by them. I had to interpret for my mom EVERYWHERE we went for as long as I can remember. Earliest memory of it goes back to when I was 6. Why did I have to do that? Because it was easier for my mom to have me help her than to constantly have to ask for paper and something to write with.

I see what you're saying about choosing to have a deaf child. Still seems selfish to me. I resort back to my original comment. No designer babies, no choosing embryos. Leave it to nature and love what you get. Period.[/quote]

Right...but the scientists are allowing that options and they are wrong.
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