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There is growing concern that falling fertility rates will lead to economic and demographic catastrophe. The social and political movement known as pronatalism looks to combat depopulation by encouraging people to have as many children as possible. But not just any kind of children.
While pronatalists advocate for progressive social policies that may incentivize childbearing, like free childcare, high profile figures in tech, like Coinbase co-founder Brian Armstrong, OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, and entrepreneur-turned-government advisor Elon Musk, are seeking to optimize for the “best” babies possible. They are turning to novel assisted reproductive genetic technologies to do so, including polygenic embryo selection. Also known as preimplantation genetic testing for polygenic disorders (or PGT-P), the technology provides prospective parents with information on genetic risk for complex (multi-gene) traits. Companies offer genetic testing for traits ranging from health conditions like heart disease to, more controversially, behavioral traits like intelligence. The service, despite having limited accuracy, is backed by millions of dollars invested by pronatalist “tech optimists” like Altman, Armstrong, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, and Etherium’s Vitalik Buterin.
The technologies that are...