Sex Selection and My Sister's Keeper

So I've been pumped recently to go see My Sister's Keeper, coming out in theaters within a week or two. The previews look awesome, and I can't wait to go see it.

I was talking to one of my friends and telling her how excited I was to see this, but she didn't have the typical reaction I expected. She had no desire to see the movie--she had read the book and wasn't a fan.

Well, that's weird, speaking of New York Times bestselling author of the book, Jodi Picoult. So I decided to do my own digging to make my own opinion of it. According to Wikipedia (great source, I know), the second daughter, Anna, is genetically engineered through invitro fertilization. Normally, I would read over that and go, "oh, okay . . . ," but after doing a few reports on sex selection and invitro fertilization in high school and college, I was amazed at the originality of the subject. Obviously Picoult was writing a story for modern times, seeing how popular invitro fertilization has grown among parents within the past five years.

If you read the summary further (don't read it if you don't want the movie spoiled for you), you'll realize the parents had good intentions. It wasn't like they were trying to just "get" what they wanted because they were discontent. But it does press the thought of what people consider ethical today. Many agree the most dangerous aspect of sex selection is its ability to harm people on an individual level as well as a national level. The individuals who are most deeply affected by sex selection are the embryos being produced, not the parents spending thousands of dollars on a non-guarantee process. President-elect of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology, Dr. James Grifo, disapproves of sex selection and claims it to be unethical. He believes through large exposure to the general public, society will pick embryos only with desirable traits and then later discard the remaining.

And it's not like anyone doesn't know the meaning of discard.

OK, I could go on and on and on. But I won't. And I won't NOT see My Sister's Keeper. It still looks great, even if a child on the movie is conceived via genetic engineering.

All I'm waiting for now are the new purple storks dropping the pre-made children with the "It's a Robot!" signs attached.