In Vitro The downfall
... such as in vitro fertilization. In the 1990's, new technological questions have arisen over in-vitro fertilization and genetic engineering. These questions have become about as humankind has advanced in its scientific and technological knowledge. As we gain more control over nature, we will inevitably face tough questions about how to exercise this control. One area of concern is reproductive technologies like in-vitro fertilization. Such technologies are meant to give an infertile couple the opportunity to have a child of their own. In-vitro fertilization seems to be a noble effort. It is giving a second chance for couples that are infertile. The intentions of such couples are pure, because they want to have a baby. Technology seems to be used for good purpose as it tries to help the infertile couple produce a child. So in-vitro fertilization is good. But I have a few concerns. In the United States, there are thousands of kids being put up for adoption. Many of these children would like to have parents who would love them. Unfortunately, there seems to be more children in orphanages, then parents who are looking for children through adoption. Infertile couples should look toward adopting children first, rather than trying to spend so many of their psychological and financial resources for trying to produce a baby with their genes. Though an adopted child does not have the genes of the adoptive parents, the adopted child will become the adoptive parent's own through love. With more discoveries in genetics, the idea of genetic manipulation and cloning has arisen. Unfortunately, many questions have to be asked. With genetic engineering, there arises the hope of preventing and curing cancer and other genetic diseases. Such hopes are good and noble. But at what point does genetic manipulation become dangerous? There is concern that genetic manipulation could be used to create "superhumans" or children manipulated according to aesthetic and social criteria. Such a use is troubling to those who are different and imperfect. What if it's undesirable for children to be short and of average strength? Such a line should not be crossed. Genetic manipulation should be used to cure disease, and not create superhumans. In addition, cloning presents another problem. Nature never intended children to be genetically identical to their parents. Further, cloning might be inappropriate as it may be used by some to cheat death by having offspring that have the same genes that they do. Children should be a product of love. They should not be the result of any project to create kids that have the same genes of certain individual. Reproductive technologies and cloning are recent innovations of science. They are products of scientific and technological knowledge. But with technology comes problems. For Paul Lauritzen, such technologies can be dehumanizing. He argues that doctors and scientists turn such an intimate process of reproduction into a series of processes that aim at getting a ...