December 06, 2011

Designer...babies?


Now we're all fans of designers around here, right? But what about designer babies? It a term that is used when parents choose characteristics of their child. They chose traits like gender, hair color and eye color. 


It's a really controversial topic, and illegal in many places like Great Britain. But what's the big deal? These days almost no one keeps their natural hair color, and colored contacts are also quite popular. And hey, some people even change their gender. 

The "big deal" is not now, it's in future speculations. What happens if scientists find a way to insure that you have a "smart" baby? 


Would specially selected smart babies over power the rest of us? After all "designing" your baby costs around $12,000 and therefore would not be widely available. 

It's obvious that people have strong opinions on the subject.


Although I have no idea what issue this person has with prams....

?

Anyways...What are your views on the subject? Do you think it should be legal?

PS: Sorry this isn't about stardoll, but it's always interesting to hear opinions on different subjects, and I hope you found this post at least somewhat educational and maybe even slightly entertaining (:

11 comments:

  1. I kind of find myself being Neutral, but more of a negative Neutral.
    even though it's awesome to personalize a baby, I thought that the beauty of babies would be the surprise when they finally came out of your mum. I remember the awe i had when i was a kid, and my little brother was about to be born. My whole family was curious to see how the baby would look like, and that made the experience of waiting for that baby interesting.

    But, the whole designing thing would kind of be...boring in my opinion. I mean, if i were my parents, i would be bored, even if i had planned it. There's just looking forward to seeing the baby you're expecting to see.

    But looking towards the future, i see why people wouldn't like it. I mean, what natural-born toddler would like to see an infant smarter than them forget that, what if the baby was smarter than an Adult? The whole Adults VS Babies war we usually see in movies witll break out.
    I Guess designing a baby is cool, but to me it has more cons than pros.

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  3. From a religious standpoint it's like a giant slap in God's face. But in my opinion, it would take a couple of really shallow and selfish parents to be that concerned with how smart or cute your child is. If your baby is healthy and happy does is matter if they're a future Einstein??

    I don't understand why any loving parent would design their child like some sort of robot. It would make me question their character.

    Some people just have too much money for their own good. Smh -_-"

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  4. Why would you even want a baby in the first place? I would rather have a cat...



    ...our eight.

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  5. I am completely and one hundred percent opposed to this. Not for religious reasons, because I am not religious. But for reasons that go against my morals.

    My belief is that babies, appearance wise, should be a representation of their parents. And even if you don't find yourself or your spouse to be the most appealing person around, having a child that reflects some of your characteristics is a blessing that most parents are absolutely honored to have.

    Choosing gender, hair color, eye color, etc. is somewhat of a smack in the face to yourself, your spouse, and your child. Because by paying an outrageous amount of money that you could invest in your child's college fund - on "personalizing" them is a direct reflection of the insecurities you have about your appearance, your spouse's appearance, and the overall appearance of your child. What will you tell your child when they ask why their eyes are a different color than mommy's and daddy's? "Oh hunny, we didn't like how you were meant to look so we altered you."

    And the fact that parents attempt to invest intelligence into their child before they are born is ridiculous. It's as if you're saying you're too lazy to teach your child, and you hope they'll come out with the ability to teach themselves. One of the most gratifying experiences for a parent is to be able to teach their children.

    In conclusion, my opinion on "designer babies" is that I believe parents are sacrificing their morals for the sake of attempting to put their insecurities to rest. Humans are never perfect. And one of the most beautiful thing about the human race is the fact that we have flaws.

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  6. I may be the only one here but I have never dyed my hair, personally I'd never find the colour I likr.
    Back on topic.. WTF?! People are always after the "perfect" thing .. whatever that is/looks like. I find it terrible that people would want to personally design their child rather than letting that child be who they are meant to me.
    What's worse is making that child a "smart" one. I do achieve over average in a lot of my school work, I don't brag about it but making a child "smart" should not be a choice the parents get. The child should choose their own paths and lives, the parents can influence it but obviously, at the end of the day it is down to the child what they want to get out of thier lives.

    Parents would be completely demoralising what natural beauty is. People are so obsessed with being beautiful and perfect, it just becomes vain.

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  7. We learned about this and stem cells in science it made me feel so ill that someone would go that far and the fact of what they do with them.

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  8. It's... a bit disturbing. Actually really disturbing & it would be something to seriously worry about. o_o

    Wealthy People could end up designing their child to have singing voices, artistic/creative skills, smart & beautiful... leaving not so well off people to have a genuinely talented & deserving child. But who would end up with more power? The designer baby obviously.
    So yeah, it's actually kinda scary to think that in a couple of decades our world could be covered with 'doll like robots' for people. :L

    And this whole idea would just cause even more suicidal kids/teens because they're not seen as 'beautiful' or 'perfect'.
    Imagine how awful the bullying would be as well?
    "My mom bought be these blue eyes & blonde hair. Yours didn't buy you anything!"

    O_O It's freaking me out now :L I really Need to stop thinking about this before I come up with another paragraph... so yeah I'm totally against this!

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  9. I have never die my hair either Megan.

    I don't like kids a lot but i wouldn't want to design one if i ever have one when i grow up.I hear on the news the other day that there was a way to choose the gender of the kid.I mean either way is gonna be your child O_O!

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  10. I find myself not just opposed to this, but completely appalled by it.
    What you didn't mention in this post is that babies have to be killed in order to conduct stem cell research.
    Scientists working on this have supposedly stopped killing children and are now only using the stem cells they have, but I don't believe a word they say.
    Greed can make people do a lot of terrible things; these scientists have dollar signs flashing in their eyes when they see how much money they can make. They won't stop until they can give rich Mommy-and-Daddy-to-be's all the 'upgrades' they want.
    When I read this in the newspaper with my Dad, I started crying at the thought of innocent children being killed to appease the wealthy and sinful all over the world.

    Not only are they talking about designing babies to be smart & 'beautiful', they are worried that people around the globe will breed a class of 'dumb' individuals to do labor.
    They will ruin babies across the world so rich people can basically have slaves again.
    They probably won't do this to their own children because of their 'elite' status; they'll end up buying out another person's child and 'designing' them to be stocky & stupid so they can work, probably for free.
    They would be playing God not only by changing that person's hair color and facial structure, but by stealing that individual's individuality.
    Does that not sound criminal to you?

    It will be a sad, sad day when I see THAT headline on the news.
    Scientific advancement can save lives, but knowledge placed in the wrong hands can kill; we're learning that now.
    I fear for the children of tomorrow and what will happen to them.
    God be with them.

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  11. Wow, everyone's comments here are so well thought out. Thanks for taking the time to think about this topic.

    @Aislin: Well the "designing options" go only so as far as the DNA in the mother and father's genes, unless they decide to get a donner. So most of the time the child will look like their parents.

    But I really agree with what everyone has said about this ridiculous search for "perfection". Parents should love their children for how they are. If they don't they're kids are going to grow up with some serious metal issues.

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