Bioethics-Children

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Scientists agree that even if the child were endowed with the perfect collection of genes, whether the child would be what their parents desired in terms of personality and intelligence is questionable. A good example is identical twins. They have the exact same set of genes, but are often vastly different people. Humans are a product of their genes and their environment, not solely their genes. Just because a person has the genetic material, it does not mean that they'll have a huge advantage over everyone else.

However, the social implications are not clear. It is hard to predict whether there would indeed be some type of rank set purely because of the way you were born. The situation here is vastly different from the situation in the book Brave New World. The society in Brave New World was not created from genetics: Huxley wrote the book in 1932, before the structure of DNA was even known.

What of children who are made to be the perfect match for a diseased relation? Is it ethical? This issue is one of great controversy, some say it is perfectly ethical, some disagree. Numerous fictional books have been written concerning the effect this knowledge might have on the child conceived to be the perfect match. On one hand, it is saving the life of another individual who might otherwise die. On the other hand, it may impress upon the child that they have no purpose in life but to keep their relation alive.

Lastly, there is the concern of gender control of a child. From the earliest times of human history, sons have been valued over daughters. The son carries on the family name and so on. This mentality, while slowly fading in most Western cultures, is still firmly rooted in Asian and Islamic cultures. With new technology available, there is an increase in the number of boys being born compared to the number of girls. Obviously, there are many societal issues here, and prominently the issue of gender discrimination. However, how can the gender rift solved? Countries such as China are greatly affected, especially because only one child is allowed per family. Most parents prefer having a boy rather than a girl.