Recently, the subject of designer babies came up on a Listserv in which I participate. The topic under discussion was Lesbian couples who have children born using in vitro fertilization (IVF) or sperm donors and the tragedies playing out around the country when these mothers split and the biological mother keeps the non-bio Mom from having contact with the child they've planned and raised together. I opined that there's got to be a way that we can combine genetic material, creating a "designer baby," so that, upon "divorce" both mothers will have an equal claim to custody and parenting time.
My recent article about science being able to make designer babies a reality is here.
In fact, recent research shows that married couples, where the wife is infertile and their family is built through IVF with purchased eggs, are often opting to select for specific traits in the egg donors.
"A market in lucrative traits is developing. Wealthy people are buying smarter babies. Even if your kids get the same private schooling, their kids will do better. Money is buying more than tutors and test prep. It's buying merit."
The Slate article is here: The Egg Market: What determines the price of a woman's eggs? SAT scores.
Then there are the designer babies created by women who are single mothers by choice. Sometimes these mothers use donated sperm from a friend. More often they purchase sperm from a sperm bank. There, they can screen for height, weight, good looks (using a photo album of the sperm donors) and pick out a candidate whose medical and social history shows that his sperm should make a good baby. College students are frequent sperm donors, and it is possible to screen for IQ as well. The New York Times explored single moms by choice here: First Comes the Baby Carriage. Should the law protect the privacy of these sperm donors, or should children be able to locate their "birth father?" The Boston Globe explored that concept.
Visit the website of Single Mothers by Choice here.
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