{"id":254069,"date":"2021-10-01T10:42:22","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T15:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=254069"},"modified":"2021-09-29T16:38:34","modified_gmt":"2021-09-29T21:38:34","slug":"eugenics-ivf-choose-genetic-score","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/eugenics-ivf-choose-genetic-score\/","title":{"rendered":"Eugenics and IVF: Couples can now ‘choose’ children based on a genetic score"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

A one-year-old girl named Aurea, born through IVF, is believed to be the first person born after passing a new type of DNA testing, pinpointing her as the healthiest of her siblings \u2014 whose whereabouts are unclear at this time. Called preimplantation genetic testing for polygenic disorders<\/em> (PGT-P), the test gives parents a risk factor score for certain health conditions in their embryos.<\/p>\n

IVF, with even more human engineering<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to Bloomberg<\/a>, Aurea’s father Rafal Smigrodzki said that he and his partner underwent fertility treatments in 2019, using two separate women as the egg donor and surrogate. They created an astounding 33 embryos, and were given the choice of four embryos to implant. A company called Genomic Prediction told them which of the embryos had the best genetic odds of not developing conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, or cancer in adulthood. One embryo \u2014 Aurea \u2014 had the highest “polygenic risk score,” and is the one they chose to implant for the IVF process to take place.<\/p>\n

As reported by Babble<\/a>, Smigrodzki was able to “meet” the embryos and learn each of the risk factors he or she carried before Aurea became the lucky chosen one. He and his partner were especially focused on any risk of heart disease and breast cancer.<\/p>\n

READ: \u2018Leftovers\u2019: The dehumanizing language of the IVF industry<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMonogenic screening might tell you that one embryo has a higher risk of BRCA, which can result in breast cancer,” his partner told Babble. “The polygenic screening gave us a much more sophisticated report and greater choice. But really we just wanted to avoid the embryos that are at really great risk of disease \u2013 it is as simple as that.”<\/p>\n

The men wanted to “avoid” the children they created who had an increased risk of certain diseases. It’s hard to even imagine purposefully avoiding a child because she or he might<\/em> have a health condition someday. But that’s what is being promoted here. This process doesn’t “eliminate” diseases<\/em>, it eliminates lives<\/em> \u2014 at least 29<\/strong>\u00a0embryos were not given the chance at life in just this one case.<\/p>\n