LA Fertility Claims It Screens for Cosmetic Characteristics (Designer Baby Alert)

MSNBC ^ | March 4, 2009

[Zakeet]

Want a baby with blonde hair and green eyes? Get your wallet out.

A Los Angeles fertility clinic is offering a new service that would allow couples to choose their baby's physical traits, including eye and hair color.

The LA Fertility Institutes said it has already received half a dozen requests for the service and expects the first designer baby to be born next year.

"I would not say this is a dangerous road," Dr. Jeff Steinberg, the director of the clinic said. "It's an uncharted road."

[Snip]

In a recent U.S. survey of 999 people who sought genetic counseling, a majority said they supported prenatal genetic tests for the elimination of certain serious diseases. The survey found that 56% supported using them to counter blindness and 75% for mental retardation.

More provocatively, about 10% of respondents said they would want genetic testing for athletic ability, while another 10% voted for improved height.

[Zakeet]

Want to guess what these people do with fertilized embryos who don't match their customers' screening criteria?

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

Produce a lot of embryos and then kill the ones that don’t match the details of the order.

[Tax-chick]

"I would not say this is a dangerous road," Dr. Jeff Steinberg, the director of the clinic said. "It's an uncharted road, because killing hundreds or thousands of preborn babies doesn't mean a thing to me. It's legal, and we're making trainloads of money!"

[Spirochete]