He Chooses His Baby's Intelligence and Height for $50,000!

The use of genetic screening methods developed to identify inherited disease risks in IVF treatment for selecting embryos based on traits such as intelligence, height, and appearance has sparked a new ethical debate. The services offered by some U.S. biotechnology companies for about $50,000 have been criticized on many fronts, from scientific reliability to social inequality.

Developed to prevent diseases

Polygenic risk scores used in IVF assess the many genetic variants that can influence a trait or disease risk together. The technology’s primary goal is to determine the likelihood of inherited diseases in embryos.

However, recently some biotechnology companies have expanded the scope of the method to provide predictions about personal and physical traits beyond disease.

From intelligence to height, from eye color to lifespan…

U.S.-based firms such as Herasight claim that, for about $50,000, they analyze embryos’ potential intelligence, adult height, and estimated lifespan.

Nucleus Genomics says it can report more than two thousand parameters, ranging from hair and eye color to skin tone, likelihood of baldness, and various biological traits.

The results offered by the companies aim to enable parents to make a choice based on genetic data among the embryos obtained during IVF treatment. Thus, it is not only about having lower risks of certain diseases, but also about selecting embryos that appear closer to the desired traits.

Giving parents the option to choose among embryos.

With new methods, parents can compare embryos according to various genetic predictions. This raises concerns that the IVF approach could move beyond selecting the healthiest embryo to choosing a child with desired traits.

According to experts, this development is increasingly blurring the line between a medical intervention and personal choice.

A warning of uncertainty from scientists.

Scientists point out that complex traits such as intelligence and height are not determined solely by genes. In addition to thousands of genetic variants, nutrition, education, living conditions, and environmental factors also play an important role in an individual's development.

Thus it is emphasized that polygenic scores do not provide definitive outcomes but rather probabilities based on data from specific research groups. A high score for a particular trait in an embryo does not mean that the child who will be born will necessarily possess that trait.

The difference among embryos from the same family is limited.

Because embryos come from the same mother and father, the limited genetic differences between them can also reduce the potential advantage that could be gained from selection.

Moreover, it is not always possible to predict what outcome a higher-scoring embryo will have in terms of another health risk. A genetic makeup that appears advantageous for one trait can lead to unexpected results in another area.

Experts therefore note that terms such as “intelligence selection” or “desired height child” used in commercial advertising may portray the technology’s real capacity as stronger than it actually is.

Is it a privilege only the wealthy can attain?

The high cost of the applications also amplifies the debate's social dimension. The fact that only affluent families can access genetic selection services that cost around $50,000 raises concerns that existing opportunity inequalities could deepen further.

Bioethicists warn that the pursuit of genetic advantages for children by families with strong economic power could create a new class divide in the future.

The 'designer baby' debate has resurfaced.

The use of a technology originally developed for health purposes, over time for aesthetic preferences and success expectations, has brought the 'designer baby' debate back into focus.

Selecting children based on specific physical or mental traits could reinforce discriminatory attitudes about which qualities are considered 'valuable' or 'undesirable' in society.

Experts note that genetic selections made in line with parents' preferences may, over time, also create a pressure on children to possess 'expected traits'.

Concern over modern eugenics

Bioethicists are concerned about the resurgence of eugenic ideas that aim to shape society by selecting human traits, emerging anew through modern technology.

Selecting traits such as intelligence, height, skin color, or appearance could foster a dangerous notion that certain human characteristics are superior to others.

Call for international regulation

It is stated that the relatively flexible legal regulations in the United States facilitate the growth of the commercial market. Experts emphasize the need for clear, international rules governing the purposes and limits of technology use.

Genetic screening methods offer important possibilities for preventing certain hereditary diseases, but embryo selection based on traits such as intelligence, height, and appearance still raises many scientific and ethical questions.

At the heart of the debate lies an increasingly critical question: should medicine be limited to preventing diseases, or should it become a tool for selecting the traits of future children?