Question

Dor Yeshorim is a modern eugenics program. How does it compare morally to programs of the past? Is it negative or positive eugenics? Do you think this matters morally?

Answer 1

Ans) Dor Yeshorim, the premarital carrier testing program designed and implemented by the ultra-orthodox Jewish community which has generated high uptake thus considerably reducing the number of children born with genetic diseases.

- Those critical of the program stress its directive and coercive features which are said to compromise personal autonomy, while those in favor emphasize its efficiency, cultural fit, and the reduction of stigma.

- It helps in representing the theories of community leaders and bioethicists, while the actual meaning and practice of carrier matching as experienced by community members have remained unexplored.

- Dor Yeshorim has been selectively incorporated into the traditional matchmaking process. The unintended consequences of this selective assimilation, namely how messages that propagate ignorance and fear, as well as misunderstandings regarding the genetic basis of carrier matching, reinforce the continuing stigmatization of presumed carriers.