GENETIC SELECTION

Father Challenges Wife over Child Selection
29/08/2010

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	Ryan Kaye and wife Jennifer
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As the national debate continues to rage over the genetic selection of embryos, a local couple, Jennifer and Ryan Kaye, who are on opposing sides of the argument, must make a personal decision whether to screen for the genetic disorder Friedreich’s ataxia, of which they are both carriers.

The chances of both Ryan and Jennifer Kaye being carriers of the genetic disorder were over one in three thousand, but unfortunately this unusual situation means that there is a one in four chance that any child they have will inherit Friedreich’s ataxia.

Jennifer is radically opposed to genetic selection and says "it’s horrible to be so choosy, "that baby isn’t good enough for me-there’s something wrong with it..." what’s it going to do to the richness of human life? She has also accused Ryan of wanting to create the "perfect baby". Ryan Kaye, who is himself, a geneticist, argues that superovulation is the only way to secure the safety and well-being of their child. Superovulation is a process by which Jennifer would be given an injection to produce 8-10 eggs each month, which be then be removed and fertilised with Ryan’s sperm. After this, an egg can be selected that does not even carry the gene for Friedreich’s ataxia.

After much discussion, whilst Jennifer has said that she is willing to select out the Friedreich’s ataxia, Ryan is still insistent that he wants to choose the egg with the best gene profile.