Fortunately all of our kids were born without any serious defects and, thus far, have lived normal lives without debilitating diseases, either physical or mental. In the days of the 20th century, the only control we had relative to childbirth was abortion We did not choose that option and preferred to let nature take its course once my wife become pregnant.
In the 21st century the idea of nature taking its course is becoming unfashionable. Humans, or some of them, want to exert more control over the process of having and raising kids. These people want to raise perfect children, the very notion of which is ridiculous. Howsomever, there are purported takers of the Hippocratic oath who are perfectly willing to make a dollar or two by catering to those who seek the impossible (that is, if you consider children as more than physical beings).
One such person who at one time was required to swear to "do no harm" is a fellow named Jeff Steinberg. Dr. Steinberg is director of the Fertility Institute, on whose web site is a declaration that those who sign up for embryo screening will soon have the option to make "a pre-selected choice of gender, eye color, hair color and complexion, along with screening for potentially lethal diseases."
Now I can fully understand why some people may not want to raise a child who is extremely likely to require an extraordinary amount of care for the child's lifetime. I may not agree with that, but I can understand it. I can't understand why it is vital that the normal child have certain physical characteristics, such as being tall, blonde, and have blue eyes. Yet, that is the goal of Dr. Steinberg and others.
Is this another sign that we are in the end days?
2 comments:
Good God! Before long someone will be suggesting the feasibility of a perfect 'Aryan' race.
But, hasn't that been done before?
when two wonderfull people start a family, sometimes one of the pups needs a little more help than the others.
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