Designer Babies: Would you ever consider paying a doctor to build you your “perfect baby”?

My husband and I have talked about it and have considered choosing the sex of our baby, I have O.C.D and my brain tells me the right number is 5 and at least 3 boys first. It even sounds silly to me but it's out of the question at the moment anyway. I think choosing the eye color, height, brains, & whatever else is a bit much but it is an option that people have now.

I kind of have mixed feelings about this. I am against manipulation of genes and choosing exact traits that have to be designed but if there is a way to find the sperm that doesn't have the genetic marker for breast cancer or to find one that is male or female. Basically as long as the sperm and egg are 100% naturally the parents and not genetically altered in any way then I kind of see it as what could have happened naturally without anyone's help. Just finding the "desired sperm" as opposed to a random one of millions. I sure as hell wouldn't pay for it though. I am not that superficial, but I wouldn't have a problem with someone picking a specific, unaltered sperm.....so to speak. I probably just confused people or pissed them off. Sorry.

my whole problem with the idea of designer babies is the fact that nobody is going to get it right on the first try. how many perfectly fine pregnancies are going to be ruined bc of this gene manipulation. i am sure the abortion rate will go up bc a gene was manipulated incorrectly or the manipulation caused a problem somewhere else in the dna. or some parents will decide to have the baby and deal with what has happened. i think we should just have the baby God designed for us to have. My granma always told me men and women don't make babies, God does. and no matter what kind of manipulation is done, if God wants your baby to have Blue eyes they are going to be blue. I think it is a waste of money, and if the government is funding this it pisses me off.

This will probably win me no friends, but I don't see an issue with the idea of "the designer baby." For those that...I don't know, can't stand the idea of a baby with green eyes, this is a great opportunity, and it's not hurting anyone. Personally I think that takes all the fun out of it, but if they're shallow enough that these things are important, let them have their franken-baby.
On a less superficial level, I would definitely screen my embryos for disease or deformity. If I have the chance to bring a healthy baby into this world as opposed to a disabled baby, you better believe I'd take that opportunity, provided that it was in the earliest stages of pregnancy. Maybe this makes me a weaker person, but I just couldn't turn down that opportunity.

I just have to tell you that I am absolutely opposed to the idea of 'designer babies.' When I was pregnant with my oldest (of 5) we were told that she had a cyst on her brain and spina bifida. We were told that she would be imperfect and to consider aborting her...at 7 mos. We told the doc if the baby has two heads we would buy two hats. God had given us a special needs child and we would gladly take on that additional responsibility. After many, many, many ultrasounds confirming the diagnosis and developmental progress the final ultrasound remarkably showed that the cyst was gone and there was no evidence of spina bifida. She was born perfectly healthy and absolutely beautiful. Doctors may now be able to manipulate genetics, but that pales in comparison to the will of God.