Insight (1995)

Designing Babies (2012x28)

: 09, 2012

Where should we draw the line on genetic screening? Is there anything wrong with choosing your baby's health, sex, personality, even intelligence? Every day, mothers are being screened to see if their future children could be at risk of diseases including Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and spina bifida. But sex selection for non-health reasons is not allowed here so many Australians are going to IVF doctors overseas to choose to have a boy or a girl. In the not-too-distant future, parents might even be able to choose elements of their baby’s personality and intelligence. Insight looks at the ethics of so-called designer babies. Should humans embrace the new genetic technologies to "breed out" disease? Or are we, as one guest puts it, in the grip of "gene mania"?