ELSI Friday Forum

ELSI Friday Forum | January 9th, 2026 | 12PM ET/ 9AM PT via Zoom
Pronatalism, the Private Sector and Genetically "Optimized" Babies

Panelists:

• Daphne Martschenko, PhD
• Katie Hasson, PhD

Moderated by: 

• Julia Brown, PhD

Abstract:
A resurgence of concern about declining birthrates has fueled pronatalist policies and cultural narratives that valorize reproduction as a social good. At the same time, advances in reproductive genetics are expanding the possibilities for selecting embryos based on genetic profiles, including polygenic risk scores for complex traits. Once limited to rare disease prevention, embryo selection is increasingly marketed as a means of optimizing future offspring. This emerging landscape is shaped in part by pronatalist private-sector innovation and consumer demand, raising new ethical, legal, and social questions about the aims and limits of reproductive choice. Together, these forces situate embryo selection at the intersection of biomedical entrepreneurship, demographic anxiety, and moral reasoning about responsibility, health, and the future. 

This ELSI Friday Forum brings together scholars to examine how genetic embryo selection is being shaped by commercial incentives, regulatory gaps, and shifting cultural expectations of parenthood. Panelists will discuss the role of private industry in defining reproductive “choice,” the implications of genetic selection for public trust and oversight, and how pronatalist and market logics converge to influence the governance of human reproduction.