Here’s a story in the UK Guardian about a deaf couple who have a deaf daughter. They now want a second child, but because of the mother’s age (she’s in her early 40’s) they think they may need to resort to IVF – most likely because of maternal age, she will need an egg donor. And they want to design/select for deafness. However, the UK law requires that “only the good embryos” can be implanted – which means no deaf children.
“The government’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) bill, scheduled to go through the Commons this spring, will block any attempt by couples like Garfield and Lichy to use modern medical techniques to ensure their children are deaf.”
Strange times we live in thanks to reproductive technology gone wild in a world that champions reproductive rights, choice and autonomy. No moral tether at all.
Author Profile
- Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN, is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.
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