I made you deaf

Jackie Ballard, Chief Executive of Royal National Institute of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People (RNID) is advocating allowing deaf parents to screen their embryos to select a deaf child over those with normal hearing. Genetic screening for “designer babies” is an area evoking considerable controversy, but this concept turns the debate on its head. Until now, the debate has been on the ethics of selecting good characteristics for your child, reminiscent of creating a master race, eugenics and Nazism. Ballard was formerly director general of RSPCA for 3 years, a Liberal Democrat MP and originally a social worker, is advocating deliberately designing a baby with a disability.

This has arisen from the debate on a clause in the Human Tissue and Embryos Bill, which is passing through the House of Lords, and would make it illegal for parents undergoing embryo screening to choose an embryo with an abnormality if healthy embryos exist. Prof. Ulrike Zeshan of UCLan, Preston has said “If the intent of the bill is to prevent human suffering, then deafness does not fall under its remit. Deafness constitutes a linguistic/cultural minority and adds to our diversity. Our society chooses to say that deaf people are disabled, but left-handed people are not. Why? This is an arbitrary choice. Research has shown that there are societies where deafness is regarded as an equally viable option, not a disability.”

A spokesman said: “While the RNID believes in the individual’s right to choose, we would not actively encourage the selection of deaf embryos over hearing ones for implantation when both are available.”

So how exactly are you going to explain to your child that they are deaf because you selected them over an embryo that most likely would have normal hearing? To me this clarifies the rights of parents over choosing the genetic make-up of their children. They should not have such rights. Parents do not own their childern, who are in any case in their care for less than 20 years. The more difficult question is “should anyone have the right to design a baby?”