I thought of Andrew Solomon's book, Far From the Tree, and the arguments he makes here. Many parents continue to bear children who are deaf, dwarfs, autistic, schizophrenic, transgender, or have other genetic deformities and love them unconditionally regardless. I'm not saying that the parents wouldn't want to eliminate the special needs (at least some days), but that many manage to cope with the situation despite the circumstances.
But what constitutes perfection or intelligence here? Many parents of Down Syndrome do cope with their children and are grateful to have them. Do many people today elect not to have a child with Down's based on genetic testing? Yes. However, there's still a percentage of children with Down's being born.
And where do we put the numerous amount of contributions made to human society by twice exceptional people. Where do we put Stephen Hawking (motor neuron disease), Helen Keller (blind/deaf), mathematician John Nash (schizophrenia), or Brian Wilson (formerly of the Beach Boys - schizophrenia) in this argument for a 'perfect' individual and the elimination of their special needs?
Who's to say that schizophrenia and autism or other special needs aren't beneficial in some way to human society at large rather than at the individual or family level?
What about individuals like Tiger Woods who many parents have idolized, despite some rather unsavory aspects of his social life? Where do we factor Galileo? He may well have been a genius in many respects but had a very spotted record with his social life and his children.
Parents of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold (Columbine) probably thought they had 'perfect' kids or 'normal' ones but not killers. How would eugenics have helped in those cases? There's no gene to determine such people.
Who's also to say that we marry solely in terms of intelligence whatever that may be? For millions, they marry their high school sweetheart, a beauty king or queen, or someone who gives them financial security instead.
What do you say to Hasidics (orthodox Jews) or other ethnic/religious groups who have many children despite the risk for genetic diseases like Tay Sachs? What then?
