1).
"It turns out that some mothers and fathers don't view certain genetic conditions as disabilities but as a way to enter into a rich, shared culture" (Sanghavi, p. 1). Based on the data that Sanghavi researched, genetic testing for dwarfism has "an extra ethical wrinkle"; when both parents are dwarves, their embryos have "a 25% chance of normal height, a 50% change of dwarfism, and a 25% chance of…a double dominant mutation," usually fatal soon after birth (Sanghavi, p. 3). And so, given the fear that their child might die a few days after its birth, parents that are dwarfs and who want a dwarf baby, have a perfectly ethical right to go to a PGD clinic and proceed to prepare for a dwarf baby.
The Case Against Deliberately Implanting a Defective Gene
Dr. Yury Verlinsky of the Reproductive Genetics Institute in Chicago, refuses to grant requests from dwarf parents to implant a defective gene just so dwarf parents can have a dwarf baby. "If we make a diagnostic tool, the purpose is to avoid disease," he said in the Sanghavi article. Dr. Robert J. Stillman of the Shady Grove Fertility Center in Rockville, Md. Also denies requests from parents that want a deaf child or a dwarf child. "In general, one of the prime dictates of parenting is to make a better world for our children. Dwarfism and deafness are not the norm" (Sanghavi, p. 2).
The Case For Implanting a Defective Gene
In the first place, author Betty Adelson insists that in the past 30 years, dwarfs "have created a new world" in which they are approaching normalcy "more closely than at any time." And new medical knowledge have allowed them "to be much healthier over the course of their lifetimes" (Adelson,...
xx). In other words, life is getting better for little people. Moreover, a 22-year study by the University of Southern California indicates that the growth-stunting mutation that causes dwarfism may actually block cancer cells from growing, eliminating one risk that humans always worry about (States News Service, 2011).
Conclusion
In the opinion of this writer, if the parents are dwarfs, and they wish to use PGD services to be certain their child will also be a dwarf, the ethical choice is theirs to make. The morality of their decision is really between themselves, their doctors, and their religious leadership, if that is important to them. It is not the government's decision to make, so long as PGD services are legal and their work is transparent. Regarding moral principles, David Resnik's "Autonomy" principle is very appropriate: "Allow rational individuals to make free and informed choices" (Resnik, 1998).
Works Cited
Adelson, Betty M. The Lives of Dwarfs: Their Journey from Public Curiosity Toward Social
Liberation. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2005.
Bandman, Bertram. Children's Right to Freedom, Care, and Enlightenment. London, UK:
Psychology Press, 1999.
Resnik, David B. The Ethics of Science: An Introduction. New York: Routledge, 1998.
Sanghavi, Darshak M. "Wanting Babies Like Themselves, Some Parents Choose Genetic
Defects." The New York Times. Retrieved June 24, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com. (2006): 1-4.
States News Service. "Dwarfism Gene Linked to Protection from Cancer and Diabetes."
Retrieved June 24, 2011, from Gale Group. (2011):…
