The head of the Royal National Institute for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People in Britain says parents who are deaf should be allowed to select embryos that will produce a deaf child. Chief executive Jackie Ballard says a child who is effectively disabled would fit in better with the family lifestyle. The British Deaf Association is already campaigning to create government legislation to allow the creation of babies with disabilities. But a clause in the Human Tissue and Embryos Bill would make it illegal for parents undergoing embryo screening to choose an embryo with an abnormality if healthy embryos exist. Opponents say this gives parents the right to create “designer babies” free from genetic conditions while destroying a cultural identity by preventing children from being born deaf.
