Making Better Babies: Genetics and Reproduction
From the 3-part series Our Genes/Our Choices (2003)

Every expectant parent wants a healthy baby, and new tests enable doctors to detect genetic abnormalities in the fetus. But if prenatal testing finds such a genetic marker in your baby, what would you do? The nature of the test results can leave parents with bewildering choices. In examining the thorny issues of selecting our children's genes, Making Better Babies illuminates the provocative future of prenatal genetic testing and the individual and societal dilemmas it will raise. "Right now we can test for a small number of things; in the future that list will grow," says panelist Francis Collins, the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute. He adds, "The difficulty in making these decisions will also grow. And if we're having trouble now, hold onto your hat."

Funders: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation; the National Human Genome Research Institute; the National Science Foundation; the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; and the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.