Endless options for customization are one happy byproduct of 21st-century consumer culture. Streaming services, sushi bowls, blankets featuring family photos — you name it, you can customize it. Deeply disturbing, though, is the rising popularity of building a custom baby.

In vitro fertilization, also known as IVF, enables a sperm and an egg to be combined in a lab and transferred to a woman’s uterus. A lawsuit filed last week in the Los Angeles Superior Court by two gay men who were upset their surrogate gave birth to a girl, rather than two boys as requested, exposes how it can turn dark quickly.