Ar article in the February 4, 2014 edition of the New York Times outlines ethical questions facing couples who have a family history of a genetic disease and choose to have preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) with transfer of unaffected embryos (non-carriers.
Genetic testing of embryos has been around for more than a decade, but its use has soared in recent years as methods have improved and more disease-causing genes have been discovered. The in vitro fertilization and testing are expensive — typically about $20,000 — but they make it possible for couples to ensure that their children will not inherit a faulty gene and to avoid the difficult choice of whether to abort a pregnancy if testing of a fetus detects a genetic problem.
But the procedure also raises unsettling ethical questions that trouble advocates for the disabled and have left some doctors struggling with what they should tell their patients. When are prospective parents justified in discarding embryos? Is it acceptable, for example, for diseases like GSS, that develop in adulthood? What if a gene only increases the risk of a disease? And should people be able to use it to pick whether they have a boy or girl?
Difficult issues. The article goes on in great detail about these issues and I highly recommend it to anyone faced with these decisions.
At Reproductive Partners we offer PGD for single gene defects and have to help our patients deal with these questions.