We live in a consumer society, which already in many ways contributes to a social caste system, we are defined by the clothes we wear, the high tech “smart” cars we own,and the state of the art gadgets we have. And soon we will be able to add designer babies to the list.

We have the choice to become what we want to be, do what we want to do in life, but what if our future was premeditated. That every feature of our body, and every gift that we have was in the hands of someone else contributing not to what we want to be but what they have chosen for us? This is in essence of what a designer baby is. Many are excited about the upcoming event and others fear that our sci film nightmares will come true.They are created in test tubes using sperm and invitro. They are then examined to see what their determined sex will be so that the parent can have either a boy or girl(depending on what they want). They can also determine what(if any) diseases may be present in the child’s future. If any are present the couple can (and usually do) choose to abort that child. There was a case I once read about that occurred in Britain (which is highly in favor of eugenics) in which a couple discovered that the child might develop high blood pressure in their forties and as a result, they aborted it.

Many fear that the eugenics movement will also lead to another mass genocide, which occurred during World War II. Hitler was infamous for his experiments and mass genocide. He believed that the perfect race was German with the blond hair and blue eye appearance. This can very easily happen again with this in the wrong hands. Many also fear that the selection of gender can be abused and lead to mass disproportion. China is a leader in female infanticide as it is and with the upcoming world-wide eugenics program, the Chinese female babies will be erased completely causing a massive problem as you can imagine. 

The “perfect” baby means different things to many people. But can you imagine if the majority of people find the same traits desirable there will be a large problem on our hands. For example what if the majority of people believed that the Barbie image was perfection. And all of the children they chose were blond, blue eyed, athletic, etc. Where will the uniqueness be? People will also be able to choose skills in the near future for their children. You can choose for your child to be highly academic, extremely athletic, artistic etc. As you can imagine a society full of beautiful extremely talented people can lead to a social class system.There won’t be much room for those who choose to have their children the natural unselected  way. Why would an employer hire someone who is average when they can hire someone who is extraordinarily superior?

The course of eugenics can eventually lead to a great imposition on people’s rights, just as it has several times in the pass. The United States led the second largest eugenic acts in history. They passed numerous laws on sterilization where people who were disabled in any kind of way could not have children. Now, this step is just skipped with the denial of a birth because the defects are shown. Is this an imposition on the child’s rights? If they have no choice of deciphering their futures? Many already know this feeling. Many parents today push and control their children’s route to their future.However, the eugenics program, once again, takes this to the next level. Now days you can defy your parents if you wish and choose your own path. In the future, your life will be planned out as to what you will become, what your strengths are,and what skills you have. This reminds me of bees. Bees at birth are decided as to whether they will be workers or drones etc. As a fetus, with eugenics, your skills are decided. Which can lead to a governmental enforcement of who will do what and be what based on these skills.I feel that half of the fun of expecting is being surprised on what sex your child will be, what color hair they will have, what color and shaped eyes they will posses,and what they will become in life.But where is the fun if you have already decided what you are having? It is the equivalent of seeing your Christmas presents prior to the 25th of December.

The eugenics movement is already highly supported and acted upon in Britain and other countries, it has various but less serious versions here in America but is expected to soon catch on here like our other countries. Will you choose for your child to be a “designer baby”?One that is formed very much like in a factory line, depriving them of their choices and natural selection of their traits. 

Image via Wikipedia