Thank You For Choosing Bales Industries

"Sound easy enough?" Dr. Norris said, ubiquitous smile creasing his magazine-cover face behind thick steel-rimmed glasses.

Jane and Robert nodded, folded hands on Jane's protruding belly.

"All righty, then. I'll leave you two to decide." Dr. Norris stood up, still grinning, and left the room.

The couple exchanged glances a little nervously. Robert sighed and raised his hand, tapping the "Male" button, eyes flicking across the screen as another clean, neutral interface slid up. The top said "Hair."

Robert exhaled. "Well…our given genotypes allow for brown or blond. What do you think?"

Jane paused. "Your brown hair. I want him to look like you."

Robert smiled, blushed a little, and tapped "Brown." Next screen.

"Eyes?"

"Oh…something striking. Maybe hazel with flecks of gold," Jane said, more excited now. "And as for the height, make him a good five-seven by adolescence."

An hour and eighteen screens later (the last cheerfully said, "Thank you for choosing Bales Industries BabyBuilder™"), Dr. Norris bounced back in. His eyes gleamed.

"Looks like you two have a beautiful baby boy made up. I'll download your input and implant it in Jane within the month. You can make an appointment at the front desk." He ushered them out, and then fell into his chair, rubbing his eyes. "Nice couple."

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Commentary: I recently heard about a new technology that let you have "designer babies." As Charles Gibson said, "Would anyone do that?" This explores that concept. Also, we're covering genes and heredity in Science right now.