r/Futurology • u/ironhide227 • 5d ago

Medicine The future of conception - genetic screening of couples and embryos to select for child’s health, gender, and more

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/04/01/opinion/ivf-gene-selection-fertility.html

Paywalled article, but here’s an older one that covers the same stuff (use private browser if ran out of monthly free articles) : https://www.wired.com/story/this-woman-will-decide-which-babies-are-born-noor-siddiqui-orchid/

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u/Few-Cabinet3309 5d ago

With the way things are in the world... I dont see how this doesn't become a slippery slope to then decided on who is ' worthy' enough to breed... They made this same argument in nazi Germany when eugenics first came up... "Its not cruel, its a solution"  /s

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u/JosephusMillerTime 5d ago

We're already doing this, have been for years. Have you heard of IVF?

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u/Few-Cabinet3309 5d ago

Not the way its suggestes here, its not..  we do not let humans shop for the best two breeder and therefore make the best human possible from the two.. it is used for oarents who other wise cant conceive.. not shop for the perfect baby.. understand the nuance of my point, not the pedantic observational take, that takes out the deeper understanding of how this does  becomes a slippery slope.  Who becomes the final authority on who can be born and not... I sure dont want the government making the choice for anyone 

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u/JosephusMillerTime 4d ago

The government intervention angle is something else entirely. People are highly encouraged to do tests for things like Down Syndrome and other abnormalities at 12-16 weeks. Do we ever reach a point in society where that isn't optional?

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u/fakegermanchild 3d ago

I mean screening for Down syndrome is controversial in certain circles already because with modern care it’s not considered a life limiting condition anymore.

But I think the point is that it’s a slippery slope. Just now you’re usually screening for conditions that are life limiting - but we’re talking here about screening for stuff like hair colour. Don’t want your kid to have an IQ that is likely to be 5 points lower than your own? Yeet it. Don’t fancy a boy who won’t grow taller than 5‘8? Yeet it. Your child is likely to have ADHD? Yeet it.