Clarification...

I put up a post on the use of IVF to produce designer babies, and gave an example of deaf parents on the BBC's Moral Maze programme saying that they would like to be able to select a deaf child. I also said that I hadn't listened to the programme itself (it's bad for my blood pressure.)

Newhousenewjob obviously did follow the actual programme, and she explained in a comment on my post that the media had put a rather nasty spin on the whole affair. The comment deserves to get a wider airing:

The way this question has been presented in the media has muddied the waters on the real issue in the original report, which is that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill as it stands contains a provision which would make it ILLEGAL for doctors to implant an embryo with any genetic defect.

A deaf couple reacted to this by saying, "What's wrong with being deaf that you can't be allowed to live?" and said that they would actually quite like a deaf child - and this was the bit that the media then manipulated.

Rather than being an issue about living embryos being killed because they didn't meet the government's definition of 'perfect', the row then turned to whether these deaf parents should have the right to say they would like a deaf child - conveniently ignoring the fact that originally they did not say (as I understand it) that they wanted specifically to be able to pick out a deaf embryo to keep, but that they didn't want any deaf embryo that might be created to be thrown away.