Testing test-tube babies - results

Here is how other Science Buzz visitors are answering these questions.
Your responses are included.

test tubes and a loving couple

Dick and Laura are a young married couple. They've been having trouble conceiving a child. They go to a fertility clinic and begin the process of in vitro fertilization—have a "test-tube baby." The doctor tells them he can test the embryos and tell which ones will be boys and which ones will be girls. Testing an embryo entails a small chance of damaging it.

Should genetic testing of embryos be allowed?


Yes = 208
No = 205
Don't know / No answer = 68
Total votes = 481

What if Dick and Laura already had a child, and she suffered a genetic illness. Screening would tell if any of the embryos had inherited the same condition.
Would you allow screening?


Yes = 327
No = 106
Don't know / No answer = 48
Total votes = 481

What if, as before, Dick and Laura have a sick daughter, and they want a second child who could provide blood transfusions and possibly donate bone marrow to the older sibling.
Would you allow screening?


Yes = 250
No = 166
Don't know / No answer = 65
Total votes = 481

What if doctors discover a gene closely linked with homosexuality. (This hasn't happened in the real world yet, but some researchers are working on it.) Not every gay person has the "gay gene," and not every person with the gene is homosexual, but there's about a 75% connection.
Would you allow screening for this?


Yes = 141
No = 275
Don't know / No answer = 80
Total votes = 496