designer baby

American

noun

a baby developing from an embryo created by in-vitro fertilization and selected because it had or lacked particular genes, the genetic makeup often having been modified by genetic engineering.

designer baby British

noun

informal a baby that is the product of genetic engineering

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of designer baby

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"It's such a personal decision and I know that I'm opening myself up for possible designer baby discussions, but I know I'm doing it for the right reasons."

From BBC

She compared the face-creating software to “designer baby” systems in which parents can choose the features of their children.

From Washington Post

And he shows how terms such as “test-tube baby” and “designer baby” are laced with cultural and religious judgements about how conception should proceed.

From Nature

Designer baby clothes are one of the many small absurd and irrational joys I take in life.

From Slate

It’s like the designer baby thing.

From The Verge

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023