In Our Own Image: Eugenics and the genetic modification of people by David
Galton, Little, Brown, 拢20, ISBN 0316855928
WHO are a child鈥檚 parents? Logically, this doesn鈥檛 seem a hard question to
answer. But take the following situation. A couple discovers that they鈥檙e
infertile and decides to hire both sperm and egg donors to create a test-tube
baby, then a surrogate mother to carry the baby to term. While waiting for the
birth, they divorce. This is exactly the situation a Californian court recently
faced in a battle over child support payments. The court ruled that the baby had
no legal parents at all, as everyone involved had either signed away their
rights or had no genetic relationship to the baby.
It鈥檚 an extreme case, but one that David Galton chooses to highlight how
notions of parenthood aren鈥檛 keeping up with the ways in which humans can now
reproduce. And this is just the beginning of planned parenthood. Genetic
improvement has already begun by choosing to implant the 鈥渂est鈥� of several
embryos produced during IVF. Not far ahead lies alteration of the embryo鈥檚
genes.
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Discussion of the issues raised by genetic manipulation, cloning and IVF are
not new. But In Our Own Image is a rare book: level-headed, compassionate,
dismissive of the reactions of populist politicians, and comprehensive in its
treatment of the dangers and benefits of the genetic modification of people. If
you haven鈥檛 been following the debate closely, this is the book to buy.