Babies With Made-to-Order Defects?
Mel Evans / AP
Pre-implantation genetic screening is a technique that can be used by concerned parents to screen their potential children for birth defects or diseases that would significantly impact their quality of life. I've commented before about how this type of screening is going to be increasingly necessary as medical advances allow for defective genes to become more prevalent in our gene pool.
Couples like Gibson and Cara Reynolds want to take this in the other direction. The Reynolds have dwarfism, a genetic defect that has non-trivial health and social implications. Their chances of having a normal child are 25%, but they would rather use genetic screening to eliminate that possibility, so as to ensure that their children also have the same genetic defect.
It's easy to sympathize with their reasons. Their abnormality has defined them. Just like ethnic minorities like to identify with their ethnicity, people with conditions such as dwarfism tend to seek each other out, and establish a community. Having a normal child would set them apart from the community they've built. They don't want to accept the fact that their condition is a birth defect, and that it has serious medical and social consequences.
By identifying with their birth defect, they've made it difficult to separate who they are from their defect. They want to pretend that it's merely an identifying trait, not a disability. But it is a disability. Their children will be less able to do things that people of a normal height will be able to do. They will have more issues with their health and they will have a shorter life span. When their children go to school, they will be made fun of. This isn't just ensuring your children fit into your little community, it's an utter act of cruelty, so you can feel better about yourself.
The MSNBC article above mentions that people with other types of disabilities consider the same thing. "So what if I'm deaf? I can get by in the world just fine, and so can my children." Um, no, you can't. You are at a significantly greater risk of injury or death because you cannot hear. While you have learned, throughout your life, to function in a world by sight alone, this was not without cost. You needed special attention in school, for example. While your child might be able to get by reasonably well with the disability you've inflicted on them, they will have to bear burdens and pay costs that people without this disability did not have to bear or pay.
Take this to an extreme. What if you heard from a blind person that they wanted to do this to their children? "It's not a disability! They will learn to get along just fine, just like I did." How many defects do you have to have before it starts to become absurd?
For those that think their birth defects are just identifying traits, you are most likely in denial. You've probably grown up with people telling you that you are normal, and not to listen to anybody else that says differently. While this probably did improve your self-esteem and your ability to cope with your disability, you should have been allowed to come to terms with your disability at some point. Accept who you are and move on with your life. Please do not pretend that you are not disadvantaged, because you are. Please do not inflict defects on your children. This is cruel and selfish of you.