Reproductive Tech That Promises Smart Babies Is Peddling Soft Eugenics

The reproductive tech company Orchid recently launched a genetic test that promises a whole genome sequencing report for embryos. It is the first such test commercially available to couples undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and claims to detect things like congenital disabilities, neurodevelopmental disorders, chromosomal abnormalities, and even future cancers.

The company has been accused of aiding parents, including Elon Musk, in also screening for “intelligence.” While Orchid has denied this, other companies like Nucleus Genomics and Heliospect Genomics have been more explicit in their offerings — Heliospect Genomics boasts that its screening methods can boost a future child’s IQ by more than six points. Nucleus Genomics’s newest New York City subway ads provocatively claim “IQ is 50% genetic” and “These babies have great genes” (we’ve heard that one before).

Since the advent of prenatal genetic screening, disability justice advocates have warned about how the practice necessitates a biological standard for a “good life,” one that inherently devalues the lives of those who are disabled, and how that “good life” will increasingly only be available to the wealthy. With...