Can Parents Choose?

June 19, 2008, 11:38 AM

Can parents choose the gender of the babies, by this I mean is it morally/ethically right for parents to choose what gender they want their child to be?

June 19, 2008, 11:43 AM

I think it's fine. I don't knwo why people say that we're playing God. God is perfect. We can't comprehend how powerful this deity is, so we clearly can't duplicate it. I think we were meant to make it as far as we have. Everything will make sense in the end, I think.

June 19, 2008, 11:44 AM

I personally think things like that are better left alone, I mean, what does it involve? =S

If it's purely because 'I want a girl to dress her up pretty zomgz' Then no, that's just wrong. You get what You're given I'm afraid

I think, if it's for medical reasons like, that would be fine...although god knows what would have to be up with the woman in the first place....

June 19, 2008, 3:49 PM

I don't really think it's right, in my opinion, if you plan to have a baby, you should just be happy with whatever you're getting. It shouldn't matter whether the baby is male or female, it's still a baby.

Although, if it was for medical reasons, like say, if a hereditary disease would only effect males or something (if there even are hereditary diseases like that) then it would be fine. But like Bambi said, choosing the gender of a baby just because you want a girl you can dress up, or if you have 3 girls and you want a boy, it's just wrong.

June 19, 2008, 4:20 PM

While I don't think choosing the gender of your child is morally wrong, I'm not in support of it. Personally, I wouldn't feel the need to modify my child to my own personal preferences, but I can understand that some parents would.

If there are parents who would outright hate their child if they didn't turn out a certain way, then maybe it's for the better that they can choose. It wouldn't make them better people, but it'd make life easier for the child.

Oh, and I also agree that doing it for medical reasons would be fine.

June 19, 2008, 5:46 PM

I'm somewhat against choosing the gender of your child. It's a nice idea, and it would be nice choosing your child gender after you have two of the same sex. The problem that I see with this is that a certain gender population will drop. Most likely females, after a while there will be more males than females. The issues is already happening in China. Not to mention there still some sexists countries and they'll abuse the ability to create more male babies.

June 19, 2008, 6:39 PM

I don't have an opinion on this, except for the reasoning that we're playing God. Look around us. We're already playing God. Most diseases that could be left untreated are getting treated, and all the disabled people and others with psychological problems are being treated, we're going places where we wouldn't normally be able to, and faster, and we know how the weather works, and can predict it's patterns fairly accurately--we're even on the verge of cloning and stem cell research.

June 19, 2008, 7:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Agrias

Although, if it was for medical reasons, like say, if a hereditary disease would only effect males or something (if there even are hereditary diseases like that) then it would be fine.

Things like Haemophilia and Red/Green Colour Blindness are sex-linked genes and mostly affect males - it is exceptionally rare for females to have such conditions.

I tend never to lean to one extreme in any debates, recently. I tend to be pro-choice in everything I say and this one's no different. I don't see such an idea as "playing God" at all, for two reasons: I do not believe in God, and because fertilisation is a random process involving chance. It'd be like flipping a coin with tails on both sides, calling tails first and saying that's also playing God. The example is extremely different but the principal is still there.

As long as it wont hurt the baby in any way (although I'm assuming these genetic processes are carried out relatively early in the gestation period anyway) then I have no quarrel with anyone who wants to do this. Personally, I find it amazing that people can now obtain whatever sex they wished for - you'd love it the same but you'd still feel disappointed that you didn't get the sex you wanted.

Things like eye and hair colour does seem a bit vain and unnecessary but, again, I'm not against it. That being said, I wouldn't seek out these processes if it was my wife.

**Battle Royale: Profiles** · June 19, 2008, 8:17 PM

I strongly disagree with parents choosing the gender of the child.

The example I'll use is China. In heavily populated areas within China, families were only allowed to have one child. As a result, they'd usually choose to keep sons. The women would be sent to orphanages, and from there, to wherever they were wanted. Because of this, the population of women has decreased in China, and it's projected that the difference could be 35% women to 65% men. This, would obviously create a lot of issues for the culture, since there wouldn't be enough women for the men.

I believe if people were to have the power to -choose- what gender their child could be, it would end up causing a similar issue.