Thursday, December 4, 2008

Genetic Testing for (unborn) Athletes


Yikes! A website claims it can conduct genetic testing on unborn children to determine if they may have a gene that is directly related to athletic ability. Imagine knowing if your soon to be born baby might be the next Michael Phelps, Albert Pujols, Williams sister or Tom Brady?
What do you think of this? Would you want to know if that genetic combination was present? Would it alter the way you viewed your child? Or, is this too much like "science fiction" for you?
OR, would you rather not know? Is there another genetic trait you might be more interested in knowing?
One last thought, is it the genes, or is there much more involved in becoming a successful athlete? Tell us what you think!

26 comments:

Unknown said...

I think that is crazy. I mean I guess its kind of neat but at the same time weird. I don't think that I would want to know if that genetic combination was present. If I were to find out that my child had that genetic combination it would not change the way I view my child. I would love my child no matter what. I think that I would want my kids to grow up and be what they want not what I want them to be. I think this is all just technology I preferably think there is a lot more to becoming a successful athlete then a genetic trait. I honestly would rather not know and see what my kid comes out to be. By doing this I think parents have already made up there mind what they want there kids to do. Just because of a genetic trait they will plan there kids future without even asking them. This is just my opinion but I think I would rather not know anything then to know something like that.

Unknown said...

People have gone WAY too far with technology. I would not like to know if my child MIGHT become an athlete. If I found out early, I might try to hard to push my child into something they did not want to do. Just because they may be good at it does not mean they want to do it. The only testing I would want on my child is to make sure he or she is healthy.

Unknown said...

I think that I wouldn’t want to know. I think it just seems to fictional, like not real. I believe that this is just crazy, because there is much more to becoming an athlete than genes. If I knew, though, it wouldn’t change the way I looked at my unborn child. To become a successful athlete you will need way more than, my mother/father was an athlete and I have their genes. You will have to work heard and really want it, because people won’t take you as an athlete just because of your family genes, you have to be really good.

Shaylor Merritt said...

Being a successful athlete is more than just a genetic trait. It takes hard work and determination. A natural ability can only carry you so far. I would not care to know anything about my child before it is born. Once you know about it, you begin thinking and dreaming about it. If someone told me my child would be a famous athlete, I would be that much more hurt if something happened to him/her. I don't even want to know if it would be a boy or a girl. No matter what special traits my child would or wouldn't have, I will still love them the same. I guess that's part of being a parent, though.

Fyfe said...

I think it's neat that they can tell what your kid’s genes are but I wouldn't want to know if my kids were going to have that gene. It doesn't matter if my kids are athletes or not because not everybody is made to be an athlete. I wouldn’t view my kid differently because as I said not everybody is made to be an athlete. I don't think that your genes have everything to do with being a good athlete but I do think that genes do have to do some with athletes. But I think that there is a lot more than just genes to become a great athlete.

Unknown said...

I also would like to say that to become a athlete is more than just genes. Being an atheltete means hard work, heart, and dedication.

Ashley said...

Personally, I think a child’s athletic ability has nothing to do with whether or not its parents were athletic. I think the website is just trying to make itself out to be “the next big thing” by coming up with this theory. Would I want to know? No, I’d find out after the child was born. The way I would view my children would not change because they were a good athlete. This whole idea is pretty much crazy to me. So no, I would not like to know if my child were athletic or not.

Unknown said...

I think that this testing is very unnecessary. I believe that testing on unborn babies for this kind of crazy stuff is not called for unless something is wrong with the baby. Tests like this could harm the baby. And I would not want to chance harming my baby just to find out about my child’s future. I would not want to know if the genetic combination is present. I don’t believe in that kind of stuff. I don’t think they can tell me whether my child will be an athlete or not. I am a Christian, and I believe that only God knows what is going to happen. And, there is much more involved in becoming a successful athlete than the genes for it. There is training and commitment involved.

Unknown said...

This new technology, while having some benefits, has much more downsides. This has the ability to turn a good parent into a stage parent. Some parents would force their child to participate in sports, even if they didn’t want to. I feel children have to find out what they want to do in their lives for themselves. No one would want to have a guideline set for their life before they are born. Just because you have the ability to do something, doesn’t mean you love and want to do it.

trevor said...

I would like to know if my child will make something with his or her life. If my child became the next Peyton Manning I would love it. This sounds a little funny I don’t think science can answer these questions about an unborn child genetic. I wouldn’t look at my child any different as long as he or she is happy. Genes carry athletic ability but it takes training and heart to drive yourself to became great. Genes have a little to do with athletic ability, it sprit.

Unknown said...

I think it would be very excite to have my unborn baby to have a very strong arm like Tom Brady. Yes, I would like know that if that genetic combination would be present. No, I wouldn't view my child in a different way. I wish my unborn child would also have Michael Vick's scrambling ability. I think there is much more involved in becoming a successful athlete.

Unknown said...

If there is an unborn child inside of me that has an athletic ability I would be happy. The reason why because when my child gets to high school then they can play like tennis, baseball, basketball, soccer, or run track. If they’re great at it then they can be an athlete in a certain sport in the future. It takes more than genes for a person to be athletic. For a person to be athletic, first they got to be in shape and also is on the go with a certain sport.

Ball23 said...

It takes more than a Genetic combination to be an athlete. Being an athlete takes determination and practice. You have to be willing to give up some things when you are an athlete. I would not want to know if my child had the genes of being an athlete. I would want my child to do what they would like to do. I would want them to find out what sport they like if any. When you find out what you really want to do you can be good at it if you put your mind to it. When you play a sport you have to be committed to it.

Unknown said...

I don’t think I would want to know if my child had the gene. If I knew then I think I would find myself expecting more out of my child and I would not want him/her to feel pressured to be super athletic. I think that that trait is important; but I also think that it is not something worth going through the trouble of finding out about somebody. They should try to find out if the child will be like Einstein or something more important…. I mean that is something a little more useful. Don’t you think?

Anonymous said...

I would not want to know if my child was going to be an amazing athlete. To become an athlete you must not only have the genes but it also takes hard work and determination. That means that I would probably expect them to be an athlete even if they didn’t like sports. Your child may have the capability to be a terrific athlete but what if your child doesn’t have the drive compete. I wouldn’t want to know anything about my child before it was born, except if the child was healthy.

Unknown said...

Honestly I really wouldn’t want to know the genes of my children. I would like to see for myself what my child will be like. I wouldn’t want any doctor doing such a test on my baby that is not even necessary. It wouldn’t matter to me what their genes are because I would love them no matter what. Genes really don’t have anything to do with being an athlete. Being an athlete takes a lot of time and effort.

LeAnne said...

Being a successful athlete is more than just a genetic trait, I feel you have to have passion. I think we have taken this too far, it seems so un real. I would not like to know if my child had an athletic gene; the only thing I want to know when having a child is its sex. For my child to be something in life you don’t have to be an athlete you can be a doctor, lawyer, or just be yourself and you could be something amazing. I wouldn’t want to put that stress on my child, of my expectations.

Lauren! said...

Personally, I would not want to know if my child had this gene. The idea to me is very unrealistic. I would not want to know if my child had this gene because it would ruin the surprises in life. I want to let my child explore and see if they want to play a certain sport or not. If I found out that my child had this gene it would not change how I view my child. This entire thought is science fiction to me because I do not understand how a computer could detect something like this.

**Bethany=) said...

I would not want to know if my child would be a super athlete. The child would grow up with all of these expectations bearing down on them. I believe it would be better to let your child try a sport and then be surprised or happy about their talents rather then force it upon them. What if your child has extreme talents in sports but likes arts better? Is it fair to assume they will be a professional athlete? If you get your kid tested for that gene and they don’t have it that doesn’t mean they couldn’t be good at sports. Also, to be a good athlete I be-lieve it takes practice and determination so I don’t see how it matters if a child is born with a sports gene cause it won’t make them super human they just might have to work a little less then others to succeed.

whsduke™ said...

I think that the website is crazy. Though it would be awesome to know if your child was going to athletic genes, I don't think I would want to know that about my child. From what I have heard, it is exciting to watch your child grow up to see what he or she can do and find out what they're interested in. The website kind of ruins that in my opinion because when you find out no matter what you say it will probably have some effect on how you look at your child. Like, if they were good at sports you would always kind of encourage them to do athletic activities and things of that nature and not let them enjoy all of what life has to offer. Another thing about the website I think is that even if you have the athletic gene that is not all it takes to be a great star. It takes heart and you have to want to be good. You cannot just rely on talent alone. It will take you someplace, but if you really want to go far, you have to work for it.

Roger said...

I think that it is wrong because if god wonted everyone to know what kind of baby there was getting he would have made a “Baby Making Machine”. Me as a teen myself would not wont to know because I think that its just someone trying too tell you that you cant do something and there don’t even know themselves. What if there was reading it wrong and tell you that you child is going to be the next President and then you would try to do everything for your child when he wont too do something else? Yes it alter the way you viewed your child I think and it is just too much like "science fiction" for me. I think to becoming a successful athlete it’s all on you because no one else can tell you to go do this or that if you wont it bad enough you will get it.

Maurica said...

I don't think that I would want to know if my child would be a star athlete or not. It would not change the way that I would view the child because it's mine, but still it would make me wonder. I think that it's crazy because I don't want to knowing if the genetics say that my child may be an athlete. What if the child doesn't have the genetics but results as a major athlete because of hard work and effort? By knowing what the child can accomplish, I think that they are being limited to only doing what genetics say they can do. What if the child doesn't want to be an athlete, you have just planned their life for them. I think that this is a major stretch on technology and the human abilities. I think that by knowing the ability of the child, that influences you to push the child in the athletic direction. Personally, I don't think I would want to know.

Unknown said...

I think it is kind of interesting, but also freaky. I think some things are just meant to be what they are, and technology is interfering with that. I don't think I would want to know because that is up to my child to be what they want to be in life. I don't want to pressure my child into becoming what "technology" said they would be. I would want to find out my child's talents and not already assume that they are going to be an athlete, a word they can't even understand or pronounce.

Dee Dee said...

If I know that my child would be the next Candace Parker or Lebron James or any other major athlete I would'nt know exactly what to do with myself. I would just be so amazed and happy. I am really into sports myself and then to find out that your unborn child could possibly become rich and famous...that is so exiting! But I also think that my child should be whatever he or she wants to be. I would'nt just ruin there lives by just saying, "You are supposed to play sports, now play!" thats not me! But I would just say, "It's your decision so you decide on how you want your life to turn out to be". And I dont think that I would want to know because I believe that for me being the type of person that I am I would become way more obsessed with knowing that my child would be famous then just the child in general. And I dont want that to happen. All I would want to know is that my child is healthy because that's all that matters. And you should'nt try to determine a persons life before they are even born. It just does'nt seem right or fair. And it could also have a big effect on your child.

Unknown said...

This testing would be nice for the people who are Obsessed with their child being an athlete, but you see to me my child doesn’t have to be an athlete to be successful. This test is just another way of smashing a child’s dream.
I really would like to know what there saying, because it seems to me there saying if my child doesn’t have this gene she/he has no chance of becoming an athlete. I really don’t think this is a good test, because if the test shows that the child has this gene the parents are more then likely going to push the child into doing something a child might not want to do. I really think this testing is a waste of time there is more important test to be done like finding a cure for cancer, a way to stop global warming, and a solution to world hunger.

Layfette said...

I think every great athlete have genes that help them be great. That is not the only thing you need to be great. It takes hard work too. It also takes dedication and that is a fact. So just because your child have the genetics, the question still remains, do they have the drive. In the end that is what it comes down to.