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Filed under: In The News
I think that most of us, if asked, would say we'd do nearly anything to ensure that our children are healthy. But when "anything" involves genetic screening and selection of embryos, thing get a little controversial.A woman in Britain will soon give birth to the country's first baby screened to be free of a breast cancer gene. Her husband is a carrier of the gene, which has plagued the women in his family for generations. Not only do the women in his family develop breast cancer, it's an aggressive type that hits while they're young.
The couple chose to go through IVF, transferring only embryos that did not carry the gene. But not everyone agrees with their choices. Though this type of genetic screening has been used before in cases of incurable diseases, it's not typically used for conditions like this one, that may or may not develop.
On the one hand, I realize that we don't want to make the rules too loose on how people can create babies. On the other, consider what this couple has done. Not only have they potentially eliminated this gene in their own children, they've protected future generations as well. This is definitely an issue that has more than a few gray areas.
If you were in this couple's position, would you consider IVF to protect your child's risk? Or do you think that doing so is "playing God?"
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
12-21-2008 @ 9:18PM
Jenni said...Here we go down that slippery slope that everyone wanted to ignore.
Reply
1-18-2009 @ 4:04PM
Maryjane said...You bet..anything to try to try and prevent cancer of ANY SORT should pat them selves on the back. Not only have they prevented the gene in the own offspring, they have also hopefully eliminated from it being passed on. Hats off to them!
12-22-2008 @ 12:42PM
Raechel said...While I wouldn't go this route (I mean it has to be outrageously expensive), I can certainly understand their reasons behind it. If all of his female relatives have breast cancer, and he is a known carrier, then he is protecting his children. It's not like they chose hair and eye color, sex, or any of the hundreds of other things they could have done. They simply wanted to give their child the best chance at a long and healthy life. But wouldn't it be ironic if after all this, the child goes down a path that could lead to one of many other cancers or diseases?
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1-01-2009 @ 10:31PM
Kat said...I'm quite a way off from having children, I don't even know if I'm able to have children since my mother has a tilted uterus and her sister has problems with her tubes that prevent the eggs from even being fertilized, but I have considered doing this.
I have a family history of diabetes (both my father and his mother), heart problems (my paternal grandfather actually died in a hospital when he went in for heart surgery), asthma, major eye problems, and joints deteriorating for no real reaon (my brother has had a few surgeries due to this in his ankle). In addition to this the guy I'm dating right now has hemophilia. If I wind up married to him I would have a lot to worry about with my children. What if they wind up with hemophilia AND diabetes? I lean towards screening the embryos for the health of the children, and their children.
But that's just me. I'm no parent, and I don't expect to be for at least another four or five years. So just throwing out my opinion.
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1-20-2009 @ 11:18PM
Donna1433 said...As a breast cancer survivor I can tell you I definitely would do what they have done to protect my children and future generations if I had the option. They have eliminated one cancer causing gene. Wish we could do that for all people!
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1-29-2009 @ 3:19PM
Natasha said...My 21 year old daughter is soon to have a prophylactic double mastectomy. ( It's incredibly hard for me to even write this down.) My husband is a carrier of the BRAC gene mutation, so she has a nearly 90% chance of breast cancer, and about a 40-60% chance of ovarian cancer. My sister-in-law died an agonizing death at 57 years old years of ovarian cancer, and her daughter was diagnosed at 30 with breast cancer. I'm very thankful we have the medical advances to increase the likelihood of children born without this awful genetic disorder. I would do anything to prevent my child from feeling what I do now!
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3-27-2011 @ 4:41AM
lisa said...Great read
Breast Cancer
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