Draft for 3rd Paper

Designer Babies
What would you do if you had the opportunity to change the genetic code of your child in the womb so they came out exactly how you wanted?  You could have blue eyes, brown hair, and amazing intelligence. You would have yourself the perfect child, or a designer baby. Designer babies are children who has a changed genetic makeup, so that a specific gene is present or to avoid a defect that is passed down through the family. Some doubt that designer babies are a good thing for our society, but being able to change the genetic makeup of a child can help it and help advance our sciences. Designer babies are a good thing for our society.
First off, designer babies can keep children from having birth defects. Sometimes illness is passed down through genes, and being able to save a child from the pain of having a birth defect can be very important later in life. People can agree that if this was a simple and easy procedure anyone would do it. Parents now are already trying to help their children in the womb by taking vitamins and only eating certain foods. In an article by Paul Walman he stated, "What if a hundred years from now the technology had become safe, cheap, and easy, so a pregnant woman could pop a pill that costs a dollar and would boost her baby's IQ by 20 points—would you think it was wrong then? Keep in mind that parents already do a million things intended to help their developing children become healthier and smarter, some of which begin before the baby leaves the womb”(Walman, Paul). This makes sense because if anyone could help their child be smarter or more athletic they would. Everyone wants what is best for the child. If a child was born with an illness, parents would do everything they could to treat it after birth. If it is possible to treat the same illness before, why would anyone let their child suffer? Children deserve the best life they can have, and as a parent it would seem selfish to have that opportunity and not do what is better for the child. Another opportunity is for parents who already have one sick child, and can alter their second child to help the first born. It is possible to have a healthier child that can provide blood or healthy bone marrow to help their sibling.
Even so, many people are against designer babies. It is thought that this technology is only for the rich. It is very expensive and the unreasonable cost cannot be afforded by many. Even now the rich can afford to pay for a better nose, or a better body. Why would society support even more separation between the rich and poor? Another downfall would seem to be the child feeling left out of the choice to have the procedure done. Children might feel that they were only born to help the other child not because their parents wanted another baby. It is possible as well that if the parents can choose the sex of the baby it will become an issue, because our society already discriminative towards sex (Ghoose, Tia). It could change the relationship between child and parent in another way. If the parent expects a certain trait in the child, and they do not excel in that area the parents could become disappointed with their offspring.
Even if there is some potential harm, the procedure is only going to benefit society. As the process goes on, the designer babies will become available to everyone. To address the cost, if it is a little expensive at first, as other technology has gone to show, the availability changes over time. In modern day practically everyone has a cell phone, or other technology like a fridge. These things were harder to have when they first came out. Only the rich could afford them but now, everyone has an opportunity to have them. If society did not have an issue with these technologies coming into homes like this then if should not be against the designer babies. As previously mentioned the rich can already alter their bodies, what society does not realize is, “Right now we manage to distinguish between necessary medical procedures, which insurance will pay for, and elective ones, which are apportioned on the basis of wealth. Which means that rich people can have more symmetrical noses and perkier breasts and creepily unlined faces than ordinary people do, and that doesn't bother us enough to outlaw plastic surgery. You could envision a time when anyone can get their eggs adapted to remove a slate of harmful conditions and diseases, but only the rich can get the platinum service, which will also give your child shiny, manageable hair”(Walman, Paul). Next, the choice to have a child is up to the parents, and someone who wants another child would not bring a child into the world for only use to help their first child. Even if a baby is planned, it is because they want to care and love for another child while it can help their sibling as well. In our society, parents already try to have more kids whether or not their first born was sick. The fact is, an opportunity is presented if the parents decide to bring another life into the world to have that child help their sibling. Lastly, some scientists do not let parents change the sex of the child, only alter if they have a defect or not (Ghoose, Tia). This would keep them from being discriminative towards one sex or another.
This procedure is a good idea for our society to have. The technology is going to advance whether or not society likes it. In an interview with NPR.org Mark Sauer, a member of a scientist team working at Columbia University, comments on the effort the scientists are putting in to help mothers deliver healthy children. He is only trying to help women cure diseases in their children and help them to have happy successful childhoods. He makes it clear that the procedure replaces the mitochondria with a healthy new one. Between 1 in 2,000 and 1 in 4,000 babies born each year with syndromes are caused by a weak mitochondria.  The syndromes can range from simple illness to life threatening. Sometimes there is no treatment, and the child dies early in life (Steien, Rob).
The society also benefits from this because it can cause a smarter generation. Not only is the following generations healthy as well, but they can come up with new technology. Another point to make is that no matter how much someone alters their child, the child is its own person. Someone can give a child a great skill level in athletics, great genes to make them beautiful or an amazing IQ, and that child would still choose to make their own decisions. They could become a baseball player or an accountant, but that is up to the child. The free will is not taken away just because the parents changed the genetic makeup. In the article, “Children to Order: The Ethics of Designer Babies”, the author Tia Ghose writes about the new technology behind designer babies, and believes, “When bringing a new child into the world, society has an obligation to determine whether the technologies used to do so actually benefit or harm the infant.” On the Live Science webpage that features her article, Ghose writes “Creating designer babies who are free from diseases and super athletic or smart may finally be around the corner.” The procedure brings about the opportunity to have a smarter generation and a healthier one from birth. Parents will finally be able to look forward to a society where their child does not have to go through the same illness as their family.