If you're pretty you're more likely to be adopted.

[marylander1940]

An ex-BF's dad had a black Rottweiler who was very protective but super sweet. People were afraid of him, though.

T

 

I love all dogs but not that breed...

[+ quoththeraven]

I knew a body repair shop owner whose "watchdog" was the sweetest Rottweiler you could ever hope to meet. A friend of a friend had the world's sweetest and most obedient pit bull ever. (She demonstrated how her dog would not eat a piece of meat placed on her nose until told she could.)

 

It's not the breed. It's the dog and how it's been treated. However, you could never convince a now-deceased cat of mine of that. Ever since the black Lab from next door ran up to him to say hello, scaring him half to death, he had a complex about black dogs, watching every such dog passing by with suspicion whether the cat was indoors or outdoors at the time.

[+ friendofsheila]

Very true - value and even adoption costs are based on the perceived desirability of the baby. I am white and adopted a black baby years ago. When going through the process, we were told that black and mixed race babies were the hardest to place in the South so the cost to adopt them was quite low. If we wanted a Hispanic baby, the cost would be slightly higher and a white baby would cost far more. I didn't care what color the baby was - I marked "any" under race.

 

.

 

And with these "designer babies" being talked about now.... Sheez.

 

******

"What would you like YOUR baby to look like?"

 

Goofus: I want one that's tall and pretty and smart and will earn lots of money. Make sure the birth parents give these qualities to the baby genetically!!!

 

Gallant: I want my baby to look like whatever I or my spouse look like.

[marylander1940]

I'll ADOPT Him.... but I sure as hell aint buyin him no Pants !

 

 

http://56.media.tumblr.com/01b7b59c0fd20b4ebad8027bac8ef952/tumblr_nqkuky9l2P1s3ttn4o1_500.jpg

 

I just love your sense of humor!

 

Btw, who is him? Very hot guy!

[+ FreshFluff]

And with these "designer babies" being talked about now.... Sheez.

 

******

"What would you like YOUR baby to look like?"

 

Goofus: I want one that's tall and pretty and smart and will earn lots of money. Make sure the birth parents give these qualities to the baby genetically!!!

 

Gallant: I want my baby to look like whatever I or my spouse look like.

 

If a straight couple is using their own eggs and sperm (or a same sex couple sources the egg/sperm from a relative), the kid will look like them. The idea, once the technology is available, is to choose the best combination of the two sets of chromosomes.

 

I don't see the problem with genetic engineering. A little extra intelligence or beauty might make the difference between a kid who is bullied and/or struggles through school and a popular kid who breezes through school and then can write his own ticket to a happy life. That could mean making a lot of money or curing a disease or starting an important charity or marrying any of the above .

 

Of course, all that's fantasy for now. Excellent genetic material is a good start, but it doesn't guarantee anything. Right now, the only trait parents can choose using PGD is gender. You can also screen embryos that have various genetic diseases. Parents could choose eye and color for a while, but the Catholic church put a stop to that. (Can you imagine how angry those parents would be when their sixteen year old dyes her flaxen hair purple? )

 

An FB friend posted this a few days ago:

 

[+ friendofsheila]

I don't see the problem with genetic engineering. A little extra intelligence or beauty might make the difference between a kid who is bullied and/or struggles through school and a popular kid who breezes through school and then can write his own ticket to a happy life.

 

 

Or "less gay"? I still don't like where it's going, or can go.

 

Have you seen the movie "Twilight of the Golds"? It addresses a very similar issue of choice.

 

[AndreFuture]

Or "less gay"? I still don't like where it's going, or can go.

 

Have you seen the movie "Twilight of the Golds"? It addresses a very similar issue of choice.

 

Conversely, people (like me) can also choose to have kids who are " more gay".

 

The problem isn't that technology grants us more control/ability to choose, but that we live in a wack society that deems certain types of people as "undesirable," which the technology would facilitate.

[+ FreshFluff]

Genetic "engineering" is a bit of a misnomer. At best, the parent(s) are given more information which they can use to choose from the available viable embryos--and that supply is limited. The parents might be given a choice between a really attractive, brilliant gay male and a unattractive and not-too-bright straight female. So even parents who would prefer the straight embryo might take the gay one if it's better in other ways. That selection process might lead to smaller but elite group of LGBT people. And as [uSER=12528]@FTM_Twink[/uSER] pointed out, they might engineer things in the other direction.*

 

But all that assumes that sexual orientation is a simple product of DNA, which is doubtful. There's still the role of fetal environment and early experiences after birth. So I doubt the LGBT population will become extinct.

 

But I'm sympathetic to @friendofsheila on some level. The idea of parents choosing sexual orientation gives makes me uncomfortable, as it feels like a form of control. Making a child more attractive and intelligent expands his range of life choices, but choosing sexual orientation in either direction narrows it.

[+ friendofsheila]

 

But I'm sympathetic to @friendofsheila on some level. The idea of parents choosing sexual orientation gives makes me uncomfortable, as it feels like a form of control. Making a child more attractive and intelligent expands his range of life choices, but choosing sexual orientation in either direction narrows it.

 

ANY of these choices also reinforce forms of "-ism"

 

Would parents have aborted a male child knowing he would look like Charles Laughton?

 

http://de.web.img3.acsta.net/r_120_160/b_1_d6d6d6/medias/nmedia/18/35/61/70/19013441.jpg

 

If so, we'd have been denied a lifetime of wonderful acting.

 

People who don't score well on an IQ test also contribute meaningfully to our society. Don't expect anyone with a high IQ to do long-term, repetitive stuff without going batty from the lack of stimulation. There's plenty of jobs where we'd lose out on things we like for lack of them.

[+ FreshFluff]

People who don't score well on an IQ test also contribute meaningfully to our society. Don't expect anyone with a high IQ to do long-term, repetitive stuff without going batty from the lack of stimulation. There's plenty of jobs where we'd lose out on things we like for lack of them.

 

Is that what you would want for your child, if were to have one? Is it what you would want for yourself?

[AndreFuture]

People who don't score well on an IQ test also contribute meaningfully to our society. Don't expect anyone with a high IQ to do long-term, repetitive stuff without going batty from the lack of stimulation. There's plenty of jobs where we'd lose out on things we like for lack of them.

 

That's what robots are for .

[+ friendofsheila]

Is that what you would want for your child, if were to have one? Is it what you would want for yourself?

 

Let me be clear at the outset: you are discussing what the world is like NOW, and how to deal with it. My points have been directed toward what I want the world to be like EVENTUALLY. So we're maybe not going to meet much in the middle.

 

To answer you, FF: I would want me or my child to have a job they enjoy, find fulfilling, and that receives respect and support for from the rest of the world. (So you can surmise that this includes jobs that are complex and high-paying, or less-complex and lower-paying.)

 

Yes, I know, I'm a dreamer....

[+ friendofsheila]

That's what robots are for .

 

Yup. And won't we have robot escorts soon?

[AndreFuture]

Yup. And won't we have robot escorts soon?

I'm reminded of the straight male dork fantasy anime, Chobits. Sex robot slaves that perform at will.

 

I watched that series as part of the anime club at my college, and I think the guys in the room creeped me out more than the premise of the anime.