Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis – When Doctors Play God

  

When I was visiting my family in California, we met a friend of my family which had (without any partner, +50) a baby – she had a daughter.

Consequently, I asked my cousin how this can be possible, and she answered: ”She wanted to have another daughter again so she made herself one in a test tube!” I was totally shocked and fascinated by the possibilities of modern medicine at the same time. Honestly, the situation was portrayed in a little-exaggerated manner – but this situation happened 5 years ago. 

 

PGD is one of the typical technologies of Human Enhancement. Human enhancement defines itself as the improvement and extension of human possibilities and the optimization of people itself. With this topic, a lot of ethical implications come along and to which extend the optimization of humans is carried out in a sense where lines might be crossed.

The PGD in Germany is a very controversial topic and in comparison to other countries not clearly ruled. Due to German Law, PGD is only allowed when it comes to extreme situations. When we are talking about extreme situations, we are talking about only in those cases, where a baby might have a severe disability or a child might not survive.

Conversely, the verdict by the German federal court neither allows any selection of the gender nor manipulating any trait of the fetus. PGD is only undertaken when one parent suffers from a major genetic disorder.

 

Compared to the US, the whole situation is a lot different. Screening and selection of genetic con ditions and traits are allowed and also the gender of the baby can be determined.

Even though there are some ethical discussions about the whole implications of PGD, in the US PGD is a common practice.

Whether such an intervention is ethically ok or not, is a very complicated question to answer. Since not only ethical facts have to be taken into account, it is also important to see, what medical factors might play a role when it comes to PGD. Usually, terms like “designer-babies” are negatively connoted, but you also have to consider, that PGD has a lot of substantial advantages. In terms of that, PGD can help to identify diseases prematurely and offers the possibility to positively manipulate the life of an unborn, a practice which is also not carried out in Germany.

Generally spoken, Germany has a very conservative point of view when it comes to PGD and to me personally, also as a future mom,  everyone should have the right to decide whether they want to do it or not.

-        Bianca Bandow

   @hackin_humans