<p>[France</a> sees first ‘saviour sibling’ - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110207/hl_afp/francehealthbabyreproduction]France”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110207/hl_afp/francehealthbabyreproduction)</p>
<p>Much worse could/will follow.</p>
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<p>Well, the first was more than ten years ago, so what, that is “much worse”, has followed?</p>
<p>A good paper on the topic. The idea is inherently unethical.</p>
<p><a href=“https://ucv.es/bioetica/designer_babies.doc[/url]”>Universidad Católica de Valencia | UCV;
<p>I have never been able to get that worked up about parents having a baby for an ethically questionable reason because so many future parents have babies for no reason at all.</p>
<p>I much prefer to hear “We wanted this specific baby because X” rather than “What do you mean, want a baby? We just got really drunk.”</p>
<p>I agree, Hanna. The “much worse” has been happening for a long time and has nothing to do with ‘designer babies’.</p>
<p>Barrons, my computer is advising me not to proceed to the link you’ve given, for security reasons. In any case, my point was that your subject heading for the thread is misleading. The first was more than ten years ago, not this first in France, and I have yet to see any drastically troubling results.</p>
<p>A huge number of people are alive in this world because their parents decided to keep trying till they got a boy. Is that ethically questionable?</p>
<p>I agree with Hanna; I can’t get outraged about this. The only thing expected of the new baby is that he contribute his umbilical cord, so they can use the cord blood to treat his sick brother. He doesn’t have to give his life, or even an organ, from the way I read the article.</p>
<p>It’s not like his parents won’t love him as his own person. It’s just that he’ll be saving his brother’s life as well.</p>
<p>Good for them. I’d do it in heart beat. When I read the title, I thought someone had engineered a baby for eye color, height, weight and lip size and named it Prada.</p>
<p>Lol, I did too cartera! People have babies for much worse reasons! I think it’s a matter of whether the parents want another child and are capable of devoting time, energy, and resources to both the healthy and the sick. In this baby’s case, the embryo was selected to ensure that he would not have the genetic disorder, which seems to be a wise and merciful decision on the part of his parents. The fact that his cord blood can benefit his siblings is a bonus that I think any parent of an ill child would take advantage of.</p>
<p>I really loathe the term, “designer baby.” It’s a baby. A planned for, wanted and loved baby. That’s a good thing in this world.</p>
<p>Well, this does give me pause. To me, this may violate the categorical imperative that a person should not be used as a means to an end. The slippery slope bothers me, too–cord blood doesn’t seem so bad, but what if the idea was to generate a future kidney donor, for example?</p>
<p>And although I guess it’s not exactly a “designer baby,” they did select which embryo to use–presumably discarding the others–not based on a prediction of that embryo’s own health, but its usefullness to another person.</p>
<p>It’s not the first. There are at least two families in the US that have done this, one on the early nineties.</p>
<p>[Is</a> there any ethical difference between a “Saviour Sibling” and the delivery of an unplanned for child? - Medpedia](<a href=“http://www.medpedia.com/questions/990-is-there-any-ethical-difference-between-a-saviour-sibling-and-the-delivery-of-an-unplanned-for-child]Is”>http://www.medpedia.com/questions/990-is-there-any-ethical-difference-between-a-saviour-sibling-and-the-delivery-of-an-unplanned-for-child)</p>
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<p>That is not correct in this case. They did screen the embryo for the disease that it’s sibling has. </p>
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<p>Then there goes every kid ever conceived to save a failing relationship or marriage. Also every kid ever conceived to carry on a name or business. </p>
<p>It would be wonderful if every child were conceived for the exact right reasons but that’s not the case at all and never has been. I wonder why these very rare, or maybe someday not so rare, births of planned, wanted children are so troublesome to people considering the horrific circumstances that children are born into everyday.</p>