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Essay On The Controversy Over Prenatal Genetic Screening

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The controversy over prenatal genetic screening has become a major issue among today’s society. Prenatal genetic screening occurs during the first and second trimester which allows physicians to diagnose the fetus by examining blood or other tissue to detect abnormalities (Sagerdo). Due to the scientific advancements in today’s society, the idea of genetic screening has been taken to the next level in forming the idea of a “super baby”. In the United States alone, between sixty-five to seventy percent of women have serum screening in order to evaluate the status of the developing fetus (Sagerdo). Often, when a disease is detected due to a genetic test many parents opt to have an abortion. As in any type of controversy, one of two sides are taken and one view point is usually more accepted than the other. In genetic screening, many believe that the negative effects outweigh the positives. Although prenatal genetic screening does offer some benefits, many ethical issues arise which are increased abortion rates, the idea of a “super baby” and religious values …show more content…

In most situations, prenatal testing will assure the parents that their baby is developing normally. Although if a disease is detected while a woman is still pregnant, this allows for procedures to be prepared ahead of time. Also it allows for the parents of the baby to prepare themselves emotionally and to properly arrange the home environment to accommodate for a child with special needs. Prenatal genetic screening can not determine for sure if a condition will be present but can show if the fetus is at a high or low risk. The goal for people who are for genetic screening is to no longer see genetic disorders exist within children. These benefits may be accurate but the negatives out weigh the positives when it comes to the issue over prenatal genetic

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As a result many couples were given the diagnosis only at birth. But under a new recommendation from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, doctors have begun to offer a new, safer screening procedure to all pregnant women, regardless of age.” (Harmon, 2007). The nut graph set the rest of the article up to discuss the campaign by parents who are worried about their children with Down Syndrome and their future but also the new advancements giving women of all ages early diagnoses of Down syndrome in the pregnancies and the rate of

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As a result many couples were given the diagnosis only at birth. But under a new recommendation from the American College of Obstetricians

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Eugene Kim Ms. Kim 7th Grade 7/3/2023 Is Prenatal Screening Ethical The function of prenatal screening is to check if the baby has certain birth effects, such as Down syndrome (a genetic disorder that makes the baby come out disabled or with a lower IQ than average people). Prenatal screening is also used to determine the gender of the baby.

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The pros to my child knowing earlier is to be well informed of the disease and be educated about how to lessen symptoms when and if they appear. Another pro of learning my child has the genetic marker for the disease is visiting genetic counselors when he/ she are ready to have a family of their own. The role of genetic counselors are to, "help prospective parents understand their genetic risk so that they can make informed decisions" (Berger 93).

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Amniocentesis is an alternative for PGD, it is a high risk process which sometimes leads to termination of pregnancy. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis is consider when one or both parents have a genetic abnormality and is at risk of transferring to their children. The process of preimplantation of genetic diagnosis removes a cell from an in virtro fertilization embryo for genetic testing. Affected embryos are not used for this process, only unaffected embryos are used to prevent the later termination or pregnancy.

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In many countries, it is illegal to create a designer baby, but in the United States, there is no law against it (Knoepfler, The Ethical Dilemma of Designer Babies, TedTalk). In his TedTalk, “The Ethical Dilemma of Designer Babies,” stem cell and genetics researcher, Paul Knoepfler, states the long-term risks of designer babies, describing it as “a kinder, gentler, positive eugenics.” He also touches on government involvement in this researcher; “I also think it 's not that unlikely that governments might start taking an interest in genetic modification. So for example our imagined GM Jenna child who is healthier, if there 's a generation that looks like they have lower healthcare costs, it 's possible that governments may start trying to compel their citizens to go the GM route.” I agree with many points Knoepfler makes in his TedTalk.

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Estonia, which is located in Eastern Europe, has 1.3 million people. Recently, the Estonian Government had considered that they will give free genetic testing to 100K Estonian citizens, but some people don’t know about the testing and its usefulness for health. In general, gene testing usually tests human’s DNA. However, testing a human’s gene has been disputed because it is a new medical technique. Some people support this new thing because they can know about the health of the whole family; other people oppose this new thing because it will affect their medical history and cost a lot of money.

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The pros and cons, I will be mentioning varies on the type of genetic tests done. The main pro with choosing to get a genetic test done is the insight and the knowledge that is gained based of the result. Knowing the details of your family history is key especially for the future and also with your present family. You are able to inform your family of what you have found and encourage them to do the same. If the results aren’t what you expected, you and your doctor will be able to manage the disease properly or maybe even prevent from getting to a point to where it harms you and have disastrous results.

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Should or should we not prohibit genetically engineered babies is the question to ask. After years and year of trying to figure out the cure for a disease like a mitochondrial disease, a group of professional on the topic believes that it would greatly benefit the baby ’s outcome exceptionally if their parents has harmful genetics. Most people concern would be how the baby would turn out because there have not been any clinical trials that prove that the genetics that is engineered properly work like they should. I personally believe that the genetics of baby should not be engineered, but I do believe that it should be up to the parent of the children since it is their child in the first place.

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This procedure’s purpose is to switch out genes for more preferred ones, especially to improve the health of the child. Genetic engineering could permit selection of desired physical and pleasurable traits for non-medical reasons, which has created concern in some people. The process of switching out the genes of a fetus to install genes that are more preferred has brought up debate about whether or not parents should be able to alter their babies genes to make them more appealing to the parents interests. There are many different ways of looking at this procedure and in contrast to other scientific procedures it can be for greater good or for unnecessary enhancement that could potentially create problems in society. Designer babies aren’t morally correct or incorrect, but are in between depending on what it is being used for.

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Even though nobody is perfect in the world and you thought that designing a baby to try to make it perfect, it does not always work that way. The last con is that only the rich can afford to make a designer baby. This is a con because if the mom can't have babies it would be too expensive to make one and the gay parents will have no baby even if they wanted to. These were just a few cons to having a designer

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The prenatal diagnostics and prenatal screening being routine procedures should be considered as advantage of modern medicine. It helps to reveal wide spectrum of fetus abnormal conditions, but not only congenital defects and malformations. Early detection of many of them could help to perform surgical correction and necessary management as soon as possible in order to save newborns’ lives. On the other hand, this method is widely discussed and it has many opponents, and in some countries prenatal diagnostic procedures is not considered now as a screening method. Main ethical issues are terminations of pregnancies in case of malformations, which may be supposed as eugenical abortion, inform consent and problem of decision-making process.

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Editing of the human genome in the past has been only a sight seen in dystopia works such as Brave New World. Now, genetic enhancement is a prevalent today and people are beginning to realize the issues that can arise from creating these designer babies. Gene editing can be helpful to eradicate life changing disabilities. Yet, the term disability does not correctly label these differently abled people, as the idea of what is considered disabled has changed overtime. To fully understand the consequences and implications of genetic selection and enhancement of human embryos, society must mature and declare lines of what is and is not ethically moral.

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Some argue that it is against Christianity. Nonetheless, holy books does not have an explicitly written text about genetic screening. The arguments are only constructed from implications of the holy texts. As the holy texts might hold many different meanings, who can know for sure, if genetic screening is just or unjust way? As this topic is very complicated dilemma and needs a further debates to come to a common consensus, one should consider two outcomes: when it is morally accepted and when it is condemned as unethical thing to do.

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Today, tests involve the analyzing of multiple genes to determine the risk or possibilities of developing certain and more common diseases (heart disease or cancer, for instance), and some non-medical related purposes. There are many types of genetic testing, including: (1) Newborn screening – a testing used just after birth to identify genetic disorders that could be treated early in life. A blood sample is collected with a heel prick from the newborn 24–48 hours after birth and sent to the lab for analysis. An abnormal result doesn’t indicate that the child is diagnosed with the disorder. Diagnostic tests must follow the initial screening to confirm the disease.

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