Amid Outcry, Doc Backs Off Designer Babies

Clinic will only screen embryos for disease, genetic disorders

By Katherine Thompson, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 4, 2009 9:40 AM CST

(Newser) – After backlash from doctors, ethicists, and the public, a fertility clinic that had promised parents the option to choose certain traits for their new babies has changed its claim slightly. “We’re going to limit it to people with genetic diseases because we just cannot keep up with what’s going on,” a clinic doctor tells the New York Daily News.

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In genetics screening, some DNA is extracted from fertilized embryos like this one, and checked for markers that indicate the presence of genetic diseases%u2014or preferred eye color. (Getty Images)

Many medical ethicists railed at the clinic for offering parents a chance to design their own baby, not just for absence of disease, but also for appearance. (©chimothy27)

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When you have two of the same [gender], it's awesome and amazing—but when you have one of the other, too, it's just different. And my other children are just so enjoying the new baby, and the fact that the baby is different. - A mother, defending gender selection

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Amid Outcry, Doc Backs Off Designer Babies