Want a baby with blonde hair and green eyes? No problem.
A Los Angeles fertility clinic is offering a new service that would allow couples to choose their baby's physical traits, including eye and hair color, the BBC reported.
The LA Fertility Institutes said it has already received half a dozen requests for the service and expects the first designer baby to be born next year.
"I would not say this is a dangerous road," Jeff Steinberg, director of the clinic, told the BBC. "It's an uncharted road."
But as the Wall Street Journal reported in February, the demand is out there:
In a recent U.S. survey of 999 people who sought genetic counseling, a majority said they supported prenatal genetic tests for the elimination of certain serious diseases. The survey found that 56% supported using them to counter blindness and 75% for mental retardation.
More provocatively, about 10% of respondents said they would want genetic testing for athletic ability, while another 10% voted for improved height. Nearly 13% backed the approach to select for superior intelligence, according to the survey conducted by researchers at the New York University School of Medicine.
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The new service has sparked debate within the global medical community, raising huge questions about the ethics of genetic enhancement.
Trait-selection will be based on a technique called preimplantation genetic diagnosis, or PGD. The process has long been used for medical purposes, but never for cosmetic purposes.
Fertility clinics around the world already offer sex-selection programs.