‘Designing’ babies is totally dehumanising

THE prospect of three-parent children is an alarming one (Western Mail, March 17). The child thus conceived is deprived of the right to be born of a mother and a father united in marriage and will have been conceived via an act which is not human.

It is equally unsettling that the first attempt at this new procedure will entail using a woman as a guinea pig to discover whether it is safe. Current IVF techniques already carry grave risks to the mother. Hyper-ovulation can irreparably damage fallopian tubes, cause reactions leading to major organ failure and even death. Such procedures fail more often than they succeed.

Deliberately designing babies poses the risk of dehumanising the child, regarding him/her as a commodity and a right rather than a gift. There is no way of knowing the potential effects of this new procedure on the children who may survive to full term. Attempts to eliminate one problem might result in the creation of another.

I have a genetically transmitted disease which has deprived me of most of my external muscle bulk, my mobility and dexterity. It has not prevented me from living an enormously satisfying life.

Disability is a challenge but not a disabler. Each of us is a gift to be accepted and valued. Surely it would make more sense to develop ways of helping disabled people to live their lives, rather than trying to eliminate them. Fear drives this negative attitude and the fear is groundless.

Incidentally, my disease was not passed down through my mother but through my father... Are we to expect four-parent babies?

A Savoury Cardiff