‘Designer’ babies with made-to-order defects?

[DisneyGirl4188]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16299656/wid/11915773?GT1=8816

Thoughts?

 

[mytwotinks]

I think that the quote from the lady who wants to make sure she has dwarf kids is kinda strange. She said that anyone who says she can't make sure she has dwarf kids is "playing God." That seems like an odd statement from someone who wants to create their version of the perfect child.

There are obvious difficulties that come along with dwarfism. I don't understand not wanting to make sure that your child's life is as easy as possible.

 

[WonderfulDreamer2]

I'm confused. She wants someone to make sure she has a dwarf baby and if they don't, she thinks they're playing God. Ummm, why not just leave it up to God? I shudder the think about what some people come up with. JMHO.

 

[Beth76]

I think that the quote from the lady who wants to make sure she has dwarf kids is kinda strange. She said that anyone who says she can't make sure she has dwarf kids is "playing God." That seems like an odd statement from someone who wants to create their version of the perfect child.

That was my exact thought.

“You cannot tell me that I cannot have a child who’s going to look like me,” Cara Reynolds said.

No one is guaranteed that they will have a child that looks like them. I'm sorry, but this is wrong. I feel the same about "designer babies" too. If you're so worried that your child will not turn out "perfect", then you should not be having children.

 

[jenwolgey]

The whole idea behind this article makes me sick to my stomach. UGH.

 

[Sandy V.]

I read an article a while back about a lesbian couple who were deaf. Their first child (conceived through artificial insemination with a sperm donor who was also deaf) suffered profound hearing loss from birth, which is what the couple wanted.

The article focused on their attempts to have a second child and to "genetically engineer" this one to also be deaf. They did NOT want a child that could hear, in large part because they were part of a very distinct deaf community and they wanted their children to be part of it as well. They succeeded - the second child was also born deaf.

 

[icebrat001]

Wow, no words.

 

[luvwinnie]

I saw this a couple weeks ago and I was speechless.

 

[Disney Ella]

Being a dwarf may also mean a lifetime of leg and joint problems. (As I have learned from watching Little People, Big World.) It's one thing if you just happen to have a dwarf child, but why would you want to subject your child to physical problems just so he/she can be exactly like you? And who wants to be exactly like their parents anyway? Nobody I know.

 

[mrsltg]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16299656/wid/11915773?GT1=8816

Thoughts?

My thought? There are people, numerous people, who should never, under any circumstance have children. Hoping, and acting on, the belief that your child should have a deformity or defect, no matter how manageable, is just appalling. The term "genetically engineered" does not belong in human procreation.

 

[rhiannonwales]

The ONLY (and i am saying this VERY figuratively) reason that i can see a dwarf wanting a child who was a dwarf would simply be physics: Can you imagine trying to carry a 30 lb. toddler when you are only a little larger? At 2 a toddler cannot be trusted to walk everywhere on their own, but it might be physically challenging for a little person to do what we do without thinking: pick the kid up. IT would also get difficult for said parent to restrain a child who is out of control as all kids are at some point or another. In blended marriages, where one parent is "normal" (i hate saying that) this would be less of an issue, but if both parents are little people then i could see a real and genuine concern.
However the person in the article has said none of those reasons.I find her reasoning a little elitist and frightening.

 

[Banzai]

It's a chilling version of Stepford, only in reverse.

 

[cardaway]

I read an article a while back about a lesbian couple who were deaf. Their first child (conceived through artificial insemination with a sperm donor who was also deaf) suffered profound hearing loss from birth, which is what the couple wanted.

The article focused on their attempts to have a second child and to "genetically engineer" this one to also be deaf. They did NOT want a child that could hear, in large part because they were part of a very distinct deaf community and they wanted their children to be part of it as well. They succeeded - the second child was also born deaf.

I believe it's not just them. I think there have been more.

Sick to think some kid will have to live with their decision. Sick.

 

[shirleyb]

I can't even imagine. You know, I have been overweight since birth (born at 10 lbs 10 oz) and that's the last thing I would wish on my children. I can't imagine wishing a defect on your kids so they can be "like you".

 

[Sandy V.]

Sick to think some kid will have to live with their decision. Sick.

That's what I think too. It's the epitome of selfishness. And how do you ever deal with telling the child that "we deliberately made you this way? I don't know how you could; it would seem to me that it would become some dirty little family secret that no one talks about. Unfortunately, such secrets have a way of coming out, and then there's a REAL mess.

 

[goofygirl]

Wow. That's the epitome of selfish.

 

[oxfordcircus]

I find this quote interesting:

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.

This reminds me of a Saturday Night Live skit years ago. John Lovitz, I think, was a doctor who claimed that about 49-51% of little girls are born with a ***** and testicles. According to the doctor in the skit, it was a simply procedure to correct the "defect."

I suppose the word "normal" is somewhat flexible in its definition, but what these people are doing is a little outside the normal definition of "normal".

Edited: Uh oh. I used a no no word. Note to readers: where you see the ****** above, mentally insert the word "wee wee". Thanks.

 

[rie'smom]

I'm stunned that anyone would wish pain on a child. Being a dwarf and wanting a dwarf baby is almost understandable if the condition didn't have so many painful side effects. I mean I have back problems that cause me terrific pain -something that I would never wish on someone I didn't like much less my own child.

 

[mrsltg]

I'm stunned that anyone would wish pain on a child. Being a dwarf and wanting a dwarf baby is almost understandable if the condition didn't have so many painful side effects. I mean I have back problems that cause me terrific pain -something that I would never wish on someone I didn't like much less my own child.

Not to mention kidney and heart problems, curvature of the spine, etc. Who would knowingly pass this to their child?

 

[brasswillow]

The traits are, for some, an important part of their cultural identity.

“If people in a shared culture all have the common clinical defect, then it’s maybe not a defect in the traditional sense,” Kahn said.

She and her deaf friends “see ourselves as fully functional human beings who can’t hear. People who wear glasses, are they disabled? No, but if you have hearing aids, to assist with hearing, you are labeled as disabled.”

I know very little about the dwarf community, but I do know that the deaf community has a rich history and strong culture. I'm not sure I could support a couple choosing if their child was deaf or hearing, but I don't think I could look down upon someone who does. What's to prevent a couple with a "disability" from selecting a child that is "normal," within their parent's community that child would be different, but no one in the mainstream world would look down upon them then.