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I am stuck on my argumentative essay about designer babies?

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By PD Tutor#1
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Anytime that you are writing an argumentative essay, the first thing that you want to do is basic research about the topic.  This will help you decide which position you want to take.  You may automatically assume that you should argue the position that you genuinely feel.  However, it can be more effective to choose a position that you do not actually hold.  Keep that in mind while doing your research about designer babies. While the term designer baby gives a high-end label to the process, and it is possible for people to choose babies with more socially desirable characteristics, it actually refers to any baby whose genetic makeup has been selected or altered in some way.  Most designer babies are actually engineered that way to avoid specific birth defects or the risk of conditions that are linked to things like gender.

For your argumentative essay, you want to really understand the pros and cons of the question.  The pros of a designer baby are that it can increase the child’s lifespan, it can help prevent genetic diseases, it can reduce the risk of inherited medical conditions, and it gives parents the ability to transmit genes to their children that they do not possess.  The cons of designer babies are that genetic engineers can make mistakes, the technology is risky, some parents choose designer babies for superficial reasons, it can promote sexism, it is expensive, and it could impact the gene pool. To decide which argument you want to choose, you need to consider the implications of all of the pros and cons.  You probably also want to craft at least a two-pronged argument, which considers family interests and societal interests, because the two may not align.  Within the category of family interests, you have to look at whether family interests are the same as the best interests of the child.

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