Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Man Does Not Understand Wife's Resistance To Genetically Selecting Traits For Children

A man and his wife argued last night over his strong feelings that they should make use of in vitro fertilization and genetic screening techniques in their attempts to have a child. He said that this would first and foremost allow them to take every precaution in terms of having a healthy and complication free pregnancy. Further, he saw nothing wrong with making selections for gender, height, or any other physical attributes to the extent which such selections could be made.
His wife argued that this was unnatural an unnecessary, that selecting for a blond haired, blue eyed boy was tantamount to playing God. She said that it wasn't natural.
The man countered that nature was a cruel yardstick and not one by which he wanted to measure his family. He said that most parents would do anything and everything in their power to provide for their children's health and well being from the moment they were born on. He saw no reason that such feelings should not extend to conception. If making use of available scientific tools could provide better opportunities for his children, both in terms of physical well being and prowess, he felt that it went against his very instincts as a prospective parent not to do so. How, he wondered, was it okay to spend wildly on education, clothing, and healthcare after the child was born, but somehow wrong to select for intelligence, appearance, and viability before hand?
His wife said it was the difference between playing a hand you'd been dealt and stacking the deck.
The man said that life itself was far from fair, and if her best argument was that his plans amounted to cheating, he felt that in return for his child's welfare, that was a label he could easily live with.

2 comments:

Ned said...

As with anything else, in genetic selection you can only get out of it what you put into it.

Wyrfu said...

The best laid plans of mice and men...