Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis is Unethical and Immoral

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In this day in age, where looks are almost everything when getting and going where you want, having a child with perfect genes is something to brag about. Allowing a parent to choose the perfect genes is not so far off in the future, in fact, it is now possible to pick some of the genes of a baby to make a “perfect” child. A procedure called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD, has been used for years by doctors who wanted to reduce the chance of women carrying babies infected with life-threatening diseases. PGD was first used to improve the likelihood of a successful pregnancy for couples suffering with recurring miscarriages and parents who had the chance of passing on genetic diseases to their offspring. Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, a reproductive endocrinologist, has fertility institutes in Manhattan and Los Angeles and has assisted thousands of couples around the country in choosing the gender of their child. Dr. Steinberg has expanded the options of the PGD cycle to include eye, hair and skin color when making a perfect baby. "I can't say with 100 percent certainty that parents will be able to choose something like eye color -- more like 80 percent certainty," Steinberg said. Allowing parents to choose the genes of their child may eventually cause society to shun those who cannot afford the PGD cycle, cause long-term health effects, and change how society views disabilities and parents who choose to raise children with disabilities. Even though today's society is almost purely about beauty and perfection, parents choosing the genes of their child are harming the long-term life of the child because PGD reduces the individuality of a child and the cost of a PGD cycle is tremendous and cannot be guaranteed to be successful (K...

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...dure because they believe that an embryo is a living human being. If an embryo is defective, it is discarded, and to many that is equivalent to an abortion. Is this cycle really lowering the abortion numbers, or just making it less painful to the parents because they have many more embryos waiting for their turn?

Works Cited
Kearns, William. "PGD Improves Chances for Successful Pregnancy and Birth." Preimplantation Genetics. Web. 2 Dec 2009. .

Stone, Gigi. "Fertility Doctor Will Let Parents Build Their Own Babies." Health. 02 Dec 2009. ABC News Internet Ventures, Web. 3 Dec 2009. .

Wheeler, Tracy. "Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis." Huntington's Disease Lighthouse. 25 Sep 2009. Web. 5 Dec 2009. .

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