• Question: Do you think test tube babies are right?

    Asked by tamz05 to Arttu, Ceri, James_M, Monica, Philip on 20 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by jayshah, monkeydsage, chocolatenadi13.
    • Photo: Arttu Rajantie

      Arttu Rajantie answered on 19 Jun 2011:

      Yes, I think so. IVF has been around for quite some time now, and it seems to work well and be safe. And of course the babies themselves are just as good as any other babies. For their parents they are the best babies in the world!

      Things do become more complicated if one starts to select embryos to somehow “improve” the baby, and we need to think carefully about what is acceptable and what is not.

    • Photo: James M Monk

      James M Monk answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      Yes – I have no problem with test tube babies. As Arttu says, selecting embryos to choose specific traits may lead to unintended consequences though, but that does not mean we shouldn’t do it if it helps prevent diseases.

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