Designer Babies Are Teenagers Now—and Some of Them Need Therapy Because of It
“People don’t always realize they are creating a human being and not a piece of furniture.”
I am not done reading the story yet, but I had to come back to the thread to post what is screaming in my head: Who shares this information with their child?!
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I can’t read it without paying $ to subscribe.
Hmmm . . .
- Parents “who place too much importance on genes while ignoring the environment.”
- “Distant parents—usually fathers—who hardly know their children.”
- “A high value gets placed on achievement.”
- Dads who are disappointed when it turns out they can’t predict human behavior. (“They probably can predict stocks, but human behavior has way too many variables.”)
Seems like these are topical parenting issues well beyond just families with designer babies. Perhaps the designer baby trend is more a symptom of something broader?
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The fact is everyone is born different, even from the same parents. There is no way to predict exactly how your child will be when they are born and grow up. While genetics can play a part in the potential outcome it isn’t a guarantee as the variables are too numerous to actually predict with any real confidence. It’s still a gamble, just like any other pregnancy and child. Turns out you can attempt to “design” an offspring but that doesn’t mean the cake will turn out like you thought the recipe said.
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So screening embryos so that the cycle of cancer or Huntington’s disease is eradicated is an issue for those children?
Some cancer genes have a higher chance of developing for some sexes than others. Is it wrong to take a chance on having a baby who might not have to go through terrible choices as an adult wrong?
I’m confused
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Anecdote. No real data.
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I’m no scientist, but I would think that tampering with nature is never a good thing. To be honest, it’s impossible to know if these “designer” procedures ever had the intended results. And if they did…coincidence?
It sounds more like a money grab from the “designer” clinics promising results they can’t deliver. By the time the results present themselves, the clinics are long gone.
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That was my immediate thought. I bet un-“designed” babies are much more common in high-achievement areas like Silicon Valley, and I bet loads of them feel distant from their high-achieving, high-expectations parents, too.
A certain billionaire with extremely high level political connections comes to mind (though he did use surrogates for some of the kids, I believe, too.)
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Yes, this was the vaguest possible article. One person in one practice. TBH, I expect more rigorous reporting from Wired.
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Agree. It read as if it was written by a chatbot!
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I would never lump together screening for genetic mutations that are known to be lethal or debilitating and “designing” a kid with certain looks.
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Just throwing this out there…This sounds like the author has a connection to those in the computer/software community. Long ago I read an article that proposed that there is a greater percentage of autistic people in the computer industry and the genetics would of course be passed to their kids. And they are more (perhaps) looking for the “sure” thing when it comes to having children than the general population (who are mostly happy with 10 fingers and 10 toes to start).
But EVERYBODY looks for the “right” mate. Not everyone finds them of course but I certainly looked for traits in my husband that bode well–kind, even tempered, smart, cute! If I was doing IVF I’d certainly be hoping for those same traits and research what I could. Pot luck is OUT! And screening for genetic mutations is pretty much standard these days no matter what. I don’t consider any of that “designing” a baby in the least.
Do you get the kid you always want? Hey, we’re on CC for life for a reason.
Just reading part of the first paragraph broke my heart a little.
Their parents had wanted a child who was musical or athletic or tall. So they found egg donors with the traits they wanted, created embryos with the husband’s sperm, and then implanted them, often in surrogates. Usually, these couples didn’t have fertility issues.
And though this was written about the designer babies, I suspect that far too many people feel this way:
In these homes, a high value gets placed on achievement. I think the way these kids are created sends the message: “You’re not good enough. You need to achieve. You’re not accepted.”
Doesn’t it seem sort of weird that the assumption is to use an egg donor rather than a sperm donor to get the “designer” baby? Utilizing egg donation and surrogates is immensely more complex than simply using a sperm donor. And in these circumstances (Silicon Valley techies) I doubt the husband has much to contribute genetically towards creating a kid with innate musical or athletic ability.
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The article mentions surrogacy. I know a few very successful women who want a family but are completely terrified of pregnancy and the body changes that follow. If a woman doesn’t want to experience the “joys of pregnancy,” why subject yourself to the painful process of egg harvesting? Also, maybe there is some back of the brain thinking that a man would be more attached to a biological offspring than a completely unrelated biologically child.
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I think the focus achievement is epidemic in a lot of UMC+ communities. It puts tremendous pressure on kids (which partially explains the epidemic of anxiety/depression among college students). As to the “designer” baby phenomenon, I don’t think it is widespread (and I don’t count screening for serious genetic conditions as “designing” a baby).
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More than a few successful tech people seem to believe they are genetically superior intellectually, so it doesn’t surprise me they would view their gene contribution to be vital.
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I know a surprisingly high number of kids who are DI or egg donor offspring. One former neighbor had 3 kids via the Genius Sperm Bank. 2 turned out fine; the third has serious problems . He is unlikely to be able to live on his own. The family is one of the “out” ones, and the kids most definitely know they were conceived via the Genius Sperm Bank. The normal ones are grown and have children of their own now.
Another neighbor has 2 DI kids. Father used to write a DI Dad blog, so his kids definitely knew too. I know at one point the family went to meet another family with the kids’ bio half siblings.
Doing genealogy I tripped over someone who was a fairly close relation–roughly second cousin. I know that side of my family’s history fairly well, so I couldn’t figure it out. Turned out a relative donated an egg. (I thought someone had given up a child for adoption.)
In all three of these cases, there was a medical reason a parent couldn’t or shouldn’t have kids.
I remember when my D was in college (at a top college) there was an ad offering $50,000 for donor eggs in the campus paper. For kids with debt, it was tempting. However, there were VERY specific requirements for the donor. One was that you had to be at least 5 ft 9 inch tall. Coloring was specified. Only SATs above a certain level, etc. I remember thinking “poor kid.”
And, of course, I’ve known people looking to adopt who would only adopt a child from the right kind of bio mother.