Designer Children

In times past, adoptive and foster parents were the only ones who got to select their children. Biological parents had no say so whether it was a boy, girl, brown hair, blue eyes, short, skinny, etc. [In fact, 100 years ago, parents had no say as to whether or not there would even be a baby (aside from abstinence). But that's another discussion for another day.]

These days, it is becoming common to custom-pick your child. If you're already doing in-vitro and you have a host of possible embryos, the argument goes, then why not go ahead and decide if you want a boy or girl? Want to find out if they'll be able to shed the family problem of diabetes? Sure, why not... let's throw that in too. Listen to this over-confident doctor:

"There are thousands of babies born now that we know are going to be free of lethal and/or devastating genetic diseases. That's a good thing," he said.

I'm not sure if they can guarantee this sort of thing... the doctor doing the work for you likely won't still be alive by the time the "embryo" is old enough to come down with adult diabetes, but hey- it's worth a shot, right? Of course, the ethicists are all over this one... but not for the reasons that concern me. They're concerned that people are designing their children and choosing genders. What concerns me is not what is spelled out--that people are choosing their children-- but what is implied in that. By choosing some, that means that there are children being created in a dish that are not being chosen.

This should be a real concern for all Christians who value life from conception. There are
far too many passages in the Bible that reference a child's purpose while still in the womb, actions while still in the womb, and name while still in the womb for us to be unclear on the issue of abortion. But what do we call it when it's pre-womb killing? The child hasn't even had the opportunity to implant his/herself in the mother's womb. I don't know what to term it, but I do know it's flat out evil. From the Garden until now, evil is always the result when we try to "be like God"... which is exactly what these people designing their children are trying to do.

[Note: 9-22-06- It seems I'm not the only one to have picked up on this news item. Dr. Mohler also addressed this article and the ethical problems of embryo screening over at his blog. It's worth checking out.]