'Wal-Martization' of embryos

Posted by Marcy Darnovsky February 1, 2007
Biopolitical Times

Check out Osagie Obasogie's take on one-stop embryo shopping, published in today's Boston Globe. Some excerpts:

JENALEE RYAN has just opened the Abraham Center of Life in San Antonio, Texas, billing it as "the world's first human embryo bank." Put bluntly, Ryan sells infertile couples their choice of designer embryos that, after being brought to term, become designer babies. Matching what Ryan considers "attractive and intelligent" sperm and egg donors, she designs and brokers embryos for people looking to have the perfect child.

Assisted reproduction is in many cases a wonderful thing; it has brought tremendous joy and happiness to many families. But we should also acknowledge that this is big business...Should human embryos be treated like any other commodity, bought and sold according to supply and demand? After marketing and selling designer human embryos at wholesale prices, what's next? It's fair to assume that this envelope will continue to be pushed.