Sarah-Kate Templeton, Health Correspondent
A TEAM of doctors at one of Britain’s leading hospitals wants to create the country’s first “designer babies” free from autism.
They are preparing an application to the fertility watchdog that would allow them to screen out male embryos to reduce significantly the chance of a couple having an autistic child.
As boys are four times more likely to be born with autism than girls, couples with a family history of the condition want to ensure they have only girls. Such sex selection is not at present permitted.
Now that it is being finally recognised that there may be many more female autistic people than was previously thought & assuming that this screening does happen.
What then...............parents with autistic female children instead of males???
Having had two babies myself, I wouldn't underestimate the grind of the machine at work here. At the end of the day testing costs money and takes time and organisation, the kind of things that take years to develop and bring into play.
Here in the UK, screening for Downs is routinely offered / pressured upon mothers over age 40 & others considered to be at risk....this is free.
When and if screening for autism is available, this will also be free to 'at risk parents'.
When are humans going to realize, that just as life finds a way, so will disorders and disease. Just when you cure one, another comes along. That's just life. Trying to erase autism will only bring about a newer, quite probably more lethal combination of neurological/biological defects.
Agreed......many of these 'defects' may also be 'human induced'.
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