Genetic Engineering and Disability

Recently a number of cases involving the use of the cochlear implant as a ‘cure’ for deafness, and requests from parents with achondroplasia (dwarfism) or hereditary deafness, to have children who possess their disability, have highlighted problems with the position defended by Harris. The problems associated with requests such as these will become more common as our ability to manipulate our genes increases.

What factors would motivate the desire, on the part of persons with disabilities, to have a child who shares their disability, or not to ‘correct’ such disability when the option to do so exists? There are a number of reasons put forward for this choice. These include the idea of the value of Deaf culture(or any other culture surrounding a disability), issues relating to how persons with disabilities are viewed by the community at large, a fear of being unable to relate to and interact with a child that does not share their disability and the difficulties associated with adapting facilities and lifestyle to cope with a non-disabled child.