Book review: Choosing tomorrow’s children: The ethics of selective reproduction, by Stephen Wilkinson, Clarendon Press, Oxford 2010

Recent technological advances have resulted in prospective parents being able to choose
certain characteristics of their children, whether it be choosing an embryo on the basis of
its gender, selecting an embryo as a tissue match for a sick sibling, selecting for a disability
or deselecting an embryo to avoid disease. Much has been written to date on
whether or not certain forms of selective reproduction should be prohibited, with the
majority taking a precautionary stance. Stephen Wilkinson starts his book with three real
cases to illustrate examples of selective reproduction. He thus engages the reader immediately,
drawing her into the ethical dilemmas faced by families and, as a result of the
technology required for such procedures as IVF (in vitro fertilisation) and PGD (preimplantation
genetic diagnosis), the medical profession and those who decide on policy