Test Tube Babies

This brings up an interesting topic for debate.

ABC: It was 30 years ago that the world's first test tube baby was born in Manchester, England. You might remember the furor. Today, the groundbreaking technology that gave her life is being used in ways no one could have imagined in 1978. And as the technology has developed, so has the controversy.

30 years ago, the phrase test tube babies conjured up strange images and real fears these babies would be social freaks! The world's first test tube baby is now all grown up and perfectly normal. Since her birth, more than 3 million babies have been born through in vitro fertilization, or IVF, where the egg is fertilized outside the body then implanted in the womb.

First test tube baby Louise Brown said, "The fact is that it has helped so many people. I mean it's a nice feeling that perhaps if I wouldn't have been born then those children wouldn't be here." But today IVF isn't just about helping infertile parents - now it's being used to make sure babies are born healthy. The therapy is called preimplantation genetic diagnosis or PGD. It works by screening the embryos for genetic diseases before implanting them in the womb.

Dr. Zev Rosenwaks with The Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility said,"To have embryos that we could looks at, transfer only unaffected embryos and then to have normal children who have not only unaffected but don't have to worry about the disease."

PGD changed everything for Larry and Anne Zimmerman. Larry was born with a rare form of hereditary eye cancer. When their first born, Perry was only seven weeks old the tumors started showing up, first in her eyes and two years later, in her brain. She spent many months in the hospital and had two operations. Perry is cancer free for now, but the ordeal took it's toll on the Zimmermans. They wanted more kids but couldn't handle the risk of another cancer diagnosis.

The Zimmermans said, "I don't think there's anyway in the world that Luke and Susanna would be here today if it weren't for the PGD tech. Because I don't think with what we were going through with Perry's brain tumor that we would have had it in us to basically roll the dice again.

But PGD raises some big ethical questions, especially as scientists identify more and more of our genes: Should parents really have control over the biological make up of their child? Caplan said, "Then how are we ever going to stop people from saying you know what I'd like someone with musical ability, I would like someone who's mathematically gifted. This slippery slope needs to have some stairs put on it if we're going to have any control over where we're going.

It all started with the first test tube baby. Now 30 years later similar debates about science and nature, ginned up genetics and made to order babies. But for the Zimmermans, it wasn't about making a designer family -it was about making a healthy one.

It's easy for me to say I wouldn't do PGD. I would take my chances because I don't know of a life threatening gene I could be passing on to my kids. But I can really see this from both sides. I can't imagine having a child with a brain tumor and I think I would do anything to prevent that from happening again. This is a tough one. What is your take on PGD?

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Methodist Medical Center's new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post. MyMethodist eHealth is the secure link to your doctor's office that lets you request appointments, order prescription refills, update your personal health record, and more. Sign up for MyMethodist eHealth here

Designer Babies

If you could, would you choose for your baby to have blond hair or brown? What about the baby's eye color? Blue or Green? That technology could soon be available, but is it ethical? That's the question many are raising after a couple eliminated the risk of hereditary colon cancer for their little girl.

This should be an interesting controversy to follow.

Here's the story that ran on ABC:

What if we could eradicate hereditary breast cancer by screening embryos? It 's controversial, but it's just been done for the first time in Britain and a handful of doctors are already doing it here in the U.S. The results are incredibly promising and are giving hope to families with a long history of the disease.

But some fear it could be the beginning of a brave new world where parents design their own children screening not just for deadly disease but for everything from beauty to intelligence.

In the movie "Gattaca", the fictional world of the future included selective genetics where undesirable genes were eliminated before birth. This brave new world on film was science fiction fantasy, but the science is fiction no more. Chloe Kingsbury is living proof.

Chloe's father, Chad, carries a gene for deadly genetic colon cancer that has killed two uncles, his mother and his grandfather. Because he carries the gene, he has an 85% chance of getting colon cancer. His offspring have a 50% chance of inheriting the gene from him.

So Chad and wife Colby used a new method of genetic testing called preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) which screens embryos for genetic disease. It allowed them to bring their daughter Chloe into the world without any fear that she'll get the disease. Chad said, "I've seen what this disease can do firsthand. I've held my mother's hand while she died. I look at my grandma every time I see her and there is an emptiness there. I mean, she's lost all three of her children. and I - I just, I couldn't do that."

And now one doctor in London used PGD to help a 27yr-old woman conceive Britain's first baby guaranteed to be free of hereditary breast cancer. Dr. Paul Serhal from University College London Hospital said, "All the lineage of the child will be free of the cancer and this to me is a very important message you want to put across."

It's been 30 years since the world's first test tube baby raised ethical questions over reproductive science and now with this medical milestone comes a new debate over genetic selection. Dr. Arthur Caplan, the Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, said, "Today we saw the door open. The rare ethical challenge is where is this going to take us in the future? How far will we go to letting people design their babies?"

The Kingsbury's though wouldn't have it any other way. Chad said, "You just want to make a happy life for your child. And I think that's all we're trying to do."

What do you think about genetic testing? Will it lead to designer babies?

-NewsAnchorMom Jen

Methodist Medical Center's new online healthcare program, MyMethodist eHealth, is a proud sponsor of this blog post. MyMethodist eHealth is the secure link to your doctor's office that lets you request appointments, order prescription refills, update your personal health record, and more. Sign up for MyMethodist eHealth here.