In Our Own Image

Every mother and father wants a healthy baby. Science now makes it possible to detect various genetic conditions, allowing parents to terminate a pregnancy early with medical cause. Over time, conceivably, certain diseases/conditions could even be altogether weeded out of the genetic pool in this fashion. But who should make those choices? And what about deafness or manic depression? As one of the interviewees here with dwarfism notes, "If you're busy eliminating people who would become like me, what do you think of me?" Writer-director Caroline R. Maria's In Our Own Image follows the grueling, real-life decisions of two couples whose unborn children may inherit their own genetic condition--dwarfism in one case, cystic fibrosis in the other. During their first terminated pregnancy, a dwarf couple learned their baby had inherited a fatal double dose of the dwarfism gene; now the couple are in the process of genetically testing for their second child. The other profiled couple carry the gene for cystic fibrosis--a disease that typically caps life expectancy at 36 years--which they passed on to their first child; for their second pregnancy, the pair opt for pre-implantation genetic testing (i.e., fertilization in the laboratory, followed by testing). Interviews with the couples and immediate family members, as well as comments from medical and legal professionals and others with dwarfism and cystic fibrosis, are combined with archival photographs and newsreels that touch on the social attitudes toward and historical treatment of people with various genetic disorders, from the eugenics movement in North America during the early 20th century through the Nazi propaganda campaigns during the 1930s. A thoughtful, accessible, and balanced approach toward a complex ethical issue, this is recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (A. Cantú)