UK’s First “3-Parent Baby” Born, Raising Concerns About “Designer Babies”

A Christian charity is warning the genetic engineering crosses an “ethical line”

Last week, the British government confirmed that the nation’s first babies have been born following the use of mitochondrial donation treatment (MDT), which uses the DNA of three parents to conceive a child.

The technique uses donor DNA spliced with the DNA of the mother to prevent passing mitochondrial defects on to her baby.

However, ethicists warn that the treatment could very easily pave the way for “designer babies.”

"Evidence suggests that transferring nuclear DNA into a host donor egg cell is unsafe and could impact future generations," James Mildred of the Christian charity CARE warns, as The Christian Post reported.

To begin with, the technique, he explained, destroys human embryos, raising serious ethical concerns.

What’s more, “nobody knows how a child will respond psychologically to the fact they have three parents.”

"The biotechnology being used, whilst well-intentioned in this instance, also raises the spectre of 'designer babies,'” he explained. “It's clear an ethical line in the sand has been crossed that we come to regret deeply in years to come."

On May 10, the UK’s Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority confirmed that fewer than five babies had been born using the technique, the Associated Press reported. It would not specify further.

In 2016, American doctors announced the first baby born using MDT to parents in Mexico.