in vitro fertilization

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? Screening babies

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Jens Kalaene/picture alliance via Getty Images

In vitro fertilization has exploded across America. The number of babies born through assisted reproductive technologies — most of them via IVF — jumped 45% from 2013 to 2022. A more recent part of the surge is elective IVF — still a small share of overall IVF cycles — in which people who could conceive naturally choose IVF to screen embryos for genetic traits linked to cancer risk, IQ, height and more, Axios' Carly Mallenbaum reports. Why it matters: It's becoming big business, with screening companies promising "generational health." But doctors warn the science behind embryo scoring for complex conditions is shaky — and could push would-be parents toward major medical and emotional decisions based on unproven data. Plus, elective IVF is reopening old debates about "designer babies," and the ethics of hand-picking certain traits for future children. ? Catch up quick: Some types of genetic testing for embryos have been around for years. The newest type on offer, PGT-P, uses DNA databases from adults to estimate an embryo's genetic predisposition to conditions that aren't driven by just a single gene. It's an "emerging consumer phenomenon" for people who don't have fertility issues or known genetic risks to do "elective IVF for the purposes of having a healthier, taller [child], whatever 'best' is to them," says Kian Sadeghi, CEO of embryo genetic testing company Nucleus Genomics. Sadeghi's company screens not only for cancers and other health concerns, but for traits like height, IQ and male-pattern baldness. He said he'd understand if his own mother had chosen to implant an embryo projected to be taller than he is (5 feet, 6 inches). ? Between the lines: The use of adult DNA data to make major decisions about embryo selection with PGT-P worries some doctors and bioethicists. "We just don't have a high enough correlation between genes and disease," says Ruth Lathi, an OB-GYN professor at Stanford's medical school.

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A Christian IVF doctor upended his life and found a new way to practice

A Tennessee doctor is reconciling his work in  reproductive medicine with his Christian faith. Dr. John Gordon’s Knoxville clinic limits how many embryos it creates and does not discard viable embryos, genetically test them or donate them to science. His clinic draws patients nationwide who are concerned over the moral issues that surround in vitro fertilization. Read more.

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Takeaways from AP’s profile of a Christian IVF doctor  WATCH: Christian infertility doctor confronts mounting ethical dilemmas in modern IVF