Another boring day at work, so figured I'd propose this topic.
Seems like gene editing is already underway. Supposedly this Chinese doctor, Dr. He, has already "edited" the first embryos.
So what say you, particularly to the parents and parents to be? If you had the opportunity to customize (if you will) your child so that it would have certain features (looks like David Beckham, has athleticism like LeBron, intelligence like Einstein), would you? Bear in mind, they wouldn't look like you (unless I'm talking to a bunch of Adonises and geniuses) or your baby mamas. Or would you let Mother Nature run its course?
Would you at least "edit" them so they wouldn't have hereditary diseases? Or would you leave them completely and utterly alone?
Good point
Just looked it up. You're right. Maybe his little Frankenstein creatures abducted him.
An interesting side note: They did one of those reveal videos for their first, and when the color pink showed up the husband looked like he just got fired and his father (it would be his first grandchild) threw his hat on the ground and walked away in disgust!
I think those reveal videos are silly to begin with, but why film it and go through the whole thing if you have that much invested in the decision?
One last amusing background note: The husband is the only son of a well-to-do Italian family and he walks on water in that family. He's the prince. The self-esteem in my family is so non-existent that I couldn't imagine that kind of pressure to "carry on the legacy" let alone having everyone doting on you all the time. I have two beautiful girls with no plans for a 3rd and I couldn't be happier about it.
Good call, that's the first thing I thought of. Scary to think this stuff has arrived.
Just like genetically modifying anything else - doing so could have consequences we can't predict.
An interesting side note: They did one of those reveal videos for their first, and when the color pink showed up the husband looked like he just got fired and his father (it would be his first grandchild) threw his hat on the ground and walked away in disgust!
I think those reveal videos are silly to begin with, but why film it and go through the whole thing if you have that much invested in the decision?
One last amusing background note: The husband is the only son of a well-to-do Italian family and he walks on water in that family. He's the prince. The self-esteem in my family is so non-existent that I couldn't imagine that kind of pressure to "carry on the legacy" let alone having everyone doting on you all the time. I have two beautiful girls with no plans for a 3rd and I couldn't be happier about it.
I've actually wondered about this myself since I'm not a parent. Obviously parents love their kids unconditionally, but when you found that the fetus would be a certain sex, were you a little disappointed? I remember Howard Stern talking to some crazy mother who said she wanted a daughter over her son and accused Howard of something similar since he was three daughters. Same with Tzar Nicholas II and Alexandra (and Henry VIII for that matter). They were extremely upset and distraught that they had one daughter after another until finally they had a son, Alexei.
I know a rabbi who has like 8 daughters and no sons and I'd imagine he's at least perturbed.
An interesting side note: They did one of those reveal videos for their first, and when the color pink showed up the husband looked like he just got fired and his father (it would be his first grandchild) threw his hat on the ground and walked away in disgust!
I think those reveal videos are silly to begin with, but why film it and go through the whole thing if you have that much invested in the decision?
One last amusing background note: The husband is the only son of a well-to-do Italian family and he walks on water in that family. He's the prince. The self-esteem in my family is so non-existent that I couldn't imagine that kind of pressure to "carry on the legacy" let alone having everyone doting on you all the time. I have two beautiful girls with no plans for a 3rd and I couldn't be happier about it.
Probably using in-vitro vertilization.
Pretty sure lots of Chinese went to great lengths during the one child policy to make sure they had a boy (they have 1.14 males to every female which is roughly 54% male/46% female).
There's a fine line between currently choosing not to birth a kid that would have Down Syndrome (for example) vs preemptively editing the genes to avoid DS. Not going to go further into this though.
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My sister-in-law and her husband are going lengths to make sure their 2nd child is a boy. I'm not sure what that process is, but I do know that it goes beyond the "home remedy/conceive on this day in this position" stuff. They're spending some serious cash and have the means to do so.
An interesting side note: They did one of those reveal videos for their first, and when the color pink showed up the husband looked like he just got fired and his father (it would be his first grandchild) threw his hat on the ground and walked away in disgust!
I think those reveal videos are silly to begin with, but why film it and go through the whole thing if you have that much invested in the decision?
One last amusing background note: The husband is the only son of a well-to-do Italian family and he walks on water in that family. He's the prince. The self-esteem in my family is so non-existent that I couldn't imagine that kind of pressure to "carry on the legacy" let alone having everyone doting on you all the time. I have two beautiful girls with no plans for a 3rd and I couldn't be happier about it.
I've actually wondered about this myself since I'm not a parent. Obviously parents love their kids unconditionally, but when you found that the fetus would be a certain sex, were you a little disappointed? I remember Howard Stern talking to some crazy mother who said she wanted a daughter over her son and accused Howard of something similar since he was three daughters. Same with Tzar Nicholas II and Alexandra (and Henry VIII for that matter). They were extremely upset and distraught that they had one daughter after another until finally they had a son, Alexei.
I know a rabbi who has like 8 daughters and no sons and I'd imagine he's at least perturbed.
Being mad at the sex of your child is baffling. People that are shouldn't have children.
I remember telling some of my friends that it was a girl and they were like "oh man" which was not insulting, but confusing.
In some cases, I think they had the classic image of "having a catch with your son" or the relationships they had with their Dad and wanting to carry that on, and I understand that. What I don't understand is the assumption that you can't do any of that with your daughters.
Not to derail the thread, but needless to say my older daughter loves sports and is into it with her Dad. My youngest has no interest and would much rather dress up like a princess and I'm good either way.
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My sister-in-law and her husband are going lengths to make sure their 2nd child is a boy. I'm not sure what that process is, but I do know that it goes beyond the "home remedy/conceive on this day in this position" stuff. They're spending some serious cash and have the means to do so.
An interesting side note: They did one of those reveal videos for their first, and when the color pink showed up the husband looked like he just got fired and his father (it would be his first grandchild) threw his hat on the ground and walked away in disgust!
I think those reveal videos are silly to begin with, but why film it and go through the whole thing if you have that much invested in the decision?
One last amusing background note: The husband is the only son of a well-to-do Italian family and he walks on water in that family. He's the prince. The self-esteem in my family is so non-existent that I couldn't imagine that kind of pressure to "carry on the legacy" let alone having everyone doting on you all the time. I have two beautiful girls with no plans for a 3rd and I couldn't be happier about it.
Probably using in-vitro vertilization.
Pretty sure lots of Chinese went to great lengths during the one child policy to make sure they had a boy (they have 1.14 males to every female which is roughly 54% male/46% female).
There's a fine line between currently choosing not to birth a kid that would have Down Syndrome (for example) vs preemptively editing the genes to avoid DS. Not going to go further into this though.
People don't realize what the Chinese were doing at the time. They were preventing population momentum. See the below chart:
As a country gets more industrialized, people keep mkaing babies, as if the death rate is still the same as before pre industrialization. Baby Boomers are the result of our population momentum.
Population momentum hurts your economy after it has been completed. My generation now has to figure out a way to support way more elders then ever before. It's the reason why people say that social security will collapse, and why their is a massive shortage of workers right now.
So China, put these extreme tax laws in place to prevent the birthrate from getting out of control. People in China can't afford to have more then 1 boy and 1 girl.
Pretty interesting.
Being mad at the sex of your child is baffling. People that are shouldn't have children.
What an incredibly naive post. You do not know everyone's situation. And there is a fine line between being "mad" and "upset".
Great movie.
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Being mad at the sex of your child is baffling. People that are shouldn't have children.
What an incredibly naive post. You do not know everyone's situation. And there is a fine line between being "mad" and "upset".
I'm being a bit facetious. But since you brought it up, but situation calls for being upset/mad that you had the wrong sex?
First thing I thought as well.
Since you asked, I won't go into too many of the particulars, but back in 2014, my wife and I lost our daughter at full term (our first child). She was going to be induced on a Monday and the Friday prior during a routine check up, they couldn't find a heart beat.
Hopefully no one here ever has to go an experience like that. 8 months later after my wife was pregnant again, we found out we were having a boy and the wife was both mad and upset. She wanted a daughter to make up for the loss. She was depressed for a while, but when our son was born, she wouldn't trade it for anything in the world (or a year and half later when we had another son).
I know you didn't mean the comment to be taken as it was and it is just your opinion. Just know that there are people out there who might take that comment to heart and it doesn't mean that they shouldn't be allowed to have kids.
Again, apologies for the comment, just hope you know where I was coming from.
Similar to embryo selection which has been around for more than 20 years and has been used to generate a sibling who can save a child with a early lethal disease such as Fanconi's anemia. I'm less enthusiastic for such a technique being used for gender selection, but it is happening.
I dont think there's a good looking gene.
2 days before she was scheduled to start in vitro she was encouraged to take a pregnancy test to rule it out. Turns out, she was.
My beautiful daughter, now 9 months old, is a blessing. Her physiological makeup will provide her with the material to write her own life. I'm glad to not have had the opportunity to approach her life like she was part of a combo meal at McDonalds.
Interesting times.
An interesting side note: They did one of those reveal videos for their first, and when the color pink showed up the husband looked like he just got fired and his father (it would be his first grandchild) threw his hat on the ground and walked away in disgust!
I think those reveal videos are silly to begin with, but why film it and go through the whole thing if you have that much invested in the decision?
One last amusing background note: The husband is the only son of a well-to-do Italian family and he walks on water in that family. He's the prince. The self-esteem in my family is so non-existent that I couldn't imagine that kind of pressure to "carry on the legacy" let alone having everyone doting on you all the time. I have two beautiful girls with no plans for a 3rd and I couldn't be happier about it.
This probably happens in the US but in China, many baby girls have been aborted for being girls.
I dont think there's a good looking gene.
It was more of an Editor's Letter but here ya go - ( New Window )
I have a girl and a boy and they are each amazing in their own way. She’s super smart and affectionate but very clingy and needs a lot of attention he likes to be left alone to play with puzzles, toys and adapts easily to new situations