Throughout our life we are told no one is perfect and that some things are not in our control; like how tall we will grow, the color of our eyes, skin, hair, gender or even the diseases that we inherit from our family. Our genetic makeup was out of reach from changing, until recently. Thanks to genetic engineering, parents for an expensive price have the power to control their child's potential physical appearance. But genetic engineers aren't stopping there are unlocking the key to changing what personality traits we will have and manipulating our potential IQ to be higher.
In a oral where people strive to be perfect in every aspect possible, is this really something that will have a good impact on society? Good morning class, today I will be talking to you about Designer Babies; the negative aspects of them, how they will have a bad impact on the world and how it will affect the children who are victims of being one. If you do not know what designer babies are, designer babies are another term for a baby whose genetic makeup has been artificially selected using genetic engineering.Society affects an individual in many ways; it shapes your views on yourself, others ND your personal beliefs. Having designer babies will impact society badly, for many reasons, such as the belief of having superior or inferior genetic makeup, the selection of preferred genders in different cultures. Designer babies will also throw the difference between social classes further apart. This very expensive treatment and is becoming more in demand; designer babies in the future will put a more distinct line between rich and poor.
A new social class may form too; those who are designer babies with superior genetic makeup, and those who have inferior genetic keep. This expensive treatment for having a child might become a necessity for the child to be successful. One of the biggest problems with Designer Babies would be the selecting of genders. In countries like China, India, Vietnam and Nepal the ratio between female and males is already in the danger zone, China having the worst ration with 119 boys born for every 100 girls.Experts estimate that there are 37 million more males in China than there are females. To put that number into a better perspective, could you imagine seven and a half cities the size of Melbourne, with only males occupying the city, or an entire city the size of Tokyo filled with only males.
Designer babies will only make this problem worse, as parents will opt to have male children over female children. Not to mention designer babies are immoral in many ways. In what way is a parent altering their child even if the change is only minor to meet their desires ethical?It is illegal to participate in sports if you take any drugs that will enhance your performance, so does altering a child's physical capabilities so their performance will be better fall into this category too? Parents can chose for their child to have a paramount physical build so that they are taller and naturally have a better muscle mass than the average person and will perform better in sports on top of professional training that athletes receive. Altered genetic makeup to meet higher expectations would also affect people in the modeling career and in fields where you need a high IQ to succeed.Those who cannot afford to have designer babies will one- day risk their child being left behind those who are smarter and better at sports. Getting high paid Jobs or Jobs that require high scores at the end of year twelve is already extremely competitive, those children who do not have the same privilege as designer babies will have a harder time succeeding in getting many careers.
But most importantly, how would the individual child feel about all of this? Wouldn't be born with random traits inherited from their parents be good enough for them to be loved?The parents of the designer babies may have a career already in mind for the child, but instead of the career that has been chosen for them, what if they want to be something else? They might feel pressured to become what their parent wants hem to be, and put aside their life goals and dreams because they feel that they cannot and shouldn't fulfill them. Some parents may have a tailor made second child that is healthy and that would be compatible with donating organs and or bone marrow.The child may feel that they were only born to be a spare parts factory for their older sibling. Children should be loved for being themselves, not for the things they could do for others. What about the children who aren't a Designer Baby? They might feel as if they are of a lesser value than those whose genetic make up has been artificially selected to be "perfect". How would you feel growing up knowing that you were designed to be someone else's idea of perfect, or as close to it as physically possible?The pressure and fear of not succeeding may have effects on your mental wellbeing.
The negative effects that Designer babies will produce, out weights the positive. How is it fair that only the rich can eliminate diseases that their baby might carry. It isn't ethical to design children to be your version of a flawless perfect being, or as close to it as possible. It's illegal to use drugs to enhance your performance in sporting, but to later a person genetic make up so they will have a greater advantage is not?Everyone has their own different idea of what "perfect" is, what if your didn't like your parents idea of perfect? You wouldn't like them for the choices they had made- it would make you upset and angry that you didn't have the choice over who you are, yet they did. Everyone should be loved for themselves, not for the things they were chosen to be loved for. The idea of it to be common for a designer babies to be born may seem far away, but it could be Just around the corner, and lead to disaster.
