New genome testing company helps customers weed out babies with imperfect genetics

A burgeoning West Coast genome testing company is promising prospective parents “healthy babies” by helping them to selectively discard embryos that show any sign of predisposition to unwanted physical or mental conditions.

San Francisco-based Orchid Health purports to have developed technology capable of sequencing more than 99 percent of an embryo’s DNA, allowing for the detection of an enormous array of potential disorders, predispositions to diseases, and birth defects. 

Capitalizing on IVF-type artificial reproductive technology, Orchid Health then screens its customers’ multiple embryos for any type of imperfection via “preimplantation genetic testing” (PGT), with the goal of allowing only the most perfect to survive the weeding out process.  

Observers in the world of science, medicine, and children’s rights see in Orchid Health’s mission a cruel dystopian future founded upon the erasure of unconditional love from procreation and child rearing.