ShareThisI'm willing to crawl out on a limb and argue that the world is a better place because Abraham Lincoln, Charles de Gaulle, actress Jean Harlow, composer Sergei Rachmaninoff and tennis great Pete Sampras were born.
Not everyone would agree, because all five were born with genetic imperfections that afflicted them in adult life. More than 100 genetic conditions can be identified in human embryos before birth, allowing doctors to destroy them.
Not all inherited genetic defects are life-threatening. Lincoln, de Gaulle and Rachmaninoff inherited Marfan syndrome, a congenital weakness of connective tissue that can lead to abnormal growth. Sampras inherited the blood disorder thalassemia, which can cause anemia.
Because of medical advances, many of the conditions can be treated, but not completely eliminated. Some of the more serious complications, such as blindness and cancer, strike in old age, after the victim has already enjoyed a full, productive life.
Still, parents can feel the pressure to produce only "perfect" babies, and now genetic screening allows them to eliminate embryos that are vulnerable to ailments.
Lois Rogers, writing in the Sunday Times of London, explains: "The established procedure is to remove one or two cells from an eight-cell embryo three days after fertilization. The cells are then put through pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, a search for one or more defective characteristics. Abnormal embryos are discarded, while healthy ones are kept for implantation into the mother's womb."
Britain's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has already published a list of 116 defects that can be screened out without need for special permission. HFEA is now proposing to add 24 more inherited disorders to routine screening. One of them is porphyria, which contributed to the madness of King George III.
Some inheritors of genetic weaknesses say that they are happy to be alive despite their difficulties. Sion Simon, a minister in Britain's ruling Labor government, suffers from chroloideremia, which causes progressive blindness. Already half blind at the age of 41, he admits, "There are many much worse things."
David King, director of Human Genetics Alert, admits a concern for the screening of non-fatal conditions that prompts parents and doctors to discard fertilized embryos. "It contributes to a social climate in which even minor deviations from 'normality' are seen as unacceptable," he says.
My wife and I share many of the same ailments, some of them inherited. Moreover, our three daughters have suffered from disabilities from childhood, but enjoy full lives as adults. At the moment, my wife is convalescing from open-heart surgery for a defect she has had from birth. I have the same problem and can look forward to similar surgery.
Everyone in my family, given a choice between an imperfect life and no life at all, would choose to be less than perfect.
(David Yount's latest book is "Making a Success of Marriage: Planning for Happily Ever After" (Rowman & Littlefield). He answers readers at P.O. Box 2758, Woodbridge, VA 22195 and dyount31(at)verizon.net.)
AMAZING GRACE
