Introduction

The term designer baby is usually used in a pejorative sense to conjure up some dystopian brave new world. Julian Savolescu of Oxford's Ruhero Centre for Practical Ethics believes that if we can genetically alter the next generation, not only should we be free to do so, it may even turn out that in some circumstances we have an obligation to go ahead and do it. The big question is how much freedom parents should have to make such selections.