A new procedure is being developed to let expectant mothers choose the gender of their babies. This controversial procedure has taken nine years to be approved for research, and it even now faces some opposition. Doctors are wondering whether or not this is ethically the right thing to do. Will this be used for non medical procedures? If they allow to select gender, what's to stop them from being able to select other frivolous traits to be passed on?
If you've ever seen the movie GATTACA, then you know where Hollywood scientists think this can lead. GATTACA takes place in a dystopian society where our prejudices against race have been replaced by a genetic prejudice. The scientists have been able to choose things ranging from hair color to life expectancy. Those who were born "love babies" are genetically inferior and not allowed to have the same rights and luxuries as those genetically perfect.
I think that this new procedure is incredibly interesting, but we should be careful what we do with it. It's one thing to prevent a birth defect by ensuring the baby's gender, but choose the sex of your child based on your own selfish wants goes against nature. What if the baby was supposed to be a boy and you chose a girl. Will that child be a boy stuck inside of a girl's body? Will they be unhappy all their life? We don't have the answers to those questions.
Also, this could open the doors to a whole new kind of discrimination. I'm fully aware that GATTACA is a Hollywood movie and should not be treated as a prediction of the future, but even untrue stories hold some sort of truth in them, and the message is still relevant.
The publics' reaction to it is also important. 59% of women said they'd refuse the procedure even if it was completely free. So maybe even if the technology's available, people will appreciate the miracle and surprise of birth as nature intended it.
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