Designer Babies

I’m worried, as a feminist, about the role of the mother in Robert K. Graham’s scheme. Apparently the sperm recipient is not required to be a genius. How peculiar, given the elitist posture of the whole operation. Doesn’t this hark back to the dated notion of the woman as merely the vessel of the father’s “seed”? Scientists interested in studying children descended from, and raised by, geniuses can surely find plenty of two-genius couples with kids. In light of this, the idea of singling out the Nobel repository’s children looks oddly precious, if not downright silly.

Susan North

Los Angeles