Procreation is one of the attributes of most humans, as it is a norm, so it is a duty. Giving birth to children used to be like a gamble in the olding days. When a woman gets pregnant in the olding days, all she can do is pray and hope she give births to the child she desires. Factors like genetic traits wasn't known to anyone, the only thing that matters was the gender. To make matters worst, they had no way of knowing about the information of the child that is on his/her way. All they can do is hope. Though there are some traditional practices people engage in those days, in which they discover the gender of the child but it is never as clear as a scan.
Gradually the world has changed a lot from what it used to be, all form of information about a child can be known during pregnancy stage. In facts technology has made it possible to even select the traits you want in your child before pregnancy. This is common with couples or single parents who prefer to get sperm or eggs from donors. You might not have heard, people actually donate their sperm and eggs, and also get paid in the process. Though there is lot of confidentiality agreement involved. This is to prevent any form of legal issues that might occur concerning the biological parent of the child. When I think of stuff like this, I feel like people have lost their minds.
But then these things actual happen, it is no longer a scene in some Sci-fi movie. I have a female friend in Germany who actually donates some of her eggs to make some cash. I have always known things like this are happening but knowing someone I know did this, it was a little bit creepy for me at first. But the most funny aspect of this is that, the more appealing genetic traits a person has, the more pay you get for whatever you are donating. For instance, if you are the beautiful type, with some outstanding or qualities like natural blue, Gray, purple eyes e.t.c then your genotype and how immune you are to most rampant disease and so on.
There are couples or individuals who want their child to have this genetic traits in them. For countries where such services are available, I mean you could just go to the hospital or whatever place it is being stored, probably a sperm or egg bank and get the exact stuff you want possessing the exact genetic traits you want. I mean it is as simple as going to a gadget store and before opting for any gadget you would see their features in display. This will make it a lot easier to just hand-pick the exact gadget you want that would satisfy your cravings.
Who doesn't want their children to posses the perfect genetic traits? The looks, body structure, brain qualities e.t.c these are amazing qualities a child should have, no one wants to give birth to a knuckle head. I have heard of people who handpicked their partner based on the qualities they have, to ensure they end up with partner with amazing qualities that would pass it down to their children. The world is definitely getting a lot creepier than it used to be.
But then if I was opportune to select the genetic traits of my children, which behavioural pattern will I opt for? Believe me all I want is just a normal healthy child. Every child is born a blank slate and it is by nurturing, a child becomes aware of their inner qualities. I'm aware of other genetic traits like genotype and so on, I mean giving birth to a sickle cell is mostly a man made mistake, which occurs when two unmatched genotype collides. Mistakes like this can be prevented before the union of couples. But going as far as engineering a child's personality or behavioural pattern, that is just way out of line for me.
Something people don't realise is that, it is not only genetic traits that makes a child extraordinary but nurturing. Even a child with best of the best genetic traits could still end up being a thug. This is where acquired traits comes in, which is an extract of what a child learns and experience. It is the world that makes a child who they are, a child with the right amount of everything have a higher chance of becoming a great person, even a child with less still becomes a great person. So what is the fuss about?
I mean if a child with all the best qualities still doesn't turn out the way a parent wants, will they return them back to the hospital? Isn't that what people do with faulty goods? All you have to do is return it back to the store. But in this case what we are dealing with is a human life, why tamper with something that isn't of our own creation? After all, genetic traits can give you a perfect baby but without good nurturing, all the qualities a parent had carefully selected will eventually go to waste.
sub>This write-up was inspired by week 13 SciFi multiverse prompt "Selection of offsprings behavioural traits" in SciFi multiverse community.
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