On being genetically "irresponsible"

New genetic technologies continue to emerge that allow us to control the ge netic endowment of future children. Increasingly the claim is made that it is morally "irresponsible" for parents to fail to use such technologies whe n they know their possible children are at risk for a serious genetic disor der. We believe such charges are often unwarranted. Our goal in this articl e is to offer a careful conceptual analysis of the language of irresponsibi lity in an effort to encourage more care in its use. Two Of OUT more import ant sub-claims are: (1) A fair judgment of genetic irresponsibility necessa rily requires a thick background description of the specific reproductive c hoice; and (2) there is no necessary connection between an act's being mora lly wrong and its being irresponsible. These are distinct judgments requiri ng distinct justifications.