Progenics (disambiguation: Progenics, the company) Progenics is the concept of people electing to conceive children by means other than by with their mates, with the intent to improve their children's lot in life. Examples of such means include in vitro fertilization and adoption.
Because most societies require monogamy, a best mate is not available to most people. Really attractive people in general know they are attractive and tend to bond with other attractive people. This leaves less attractive people to try and find a "good enough" mate with whom they will "settle". The less attractive a person is, the harder it becomes for that person to be able to woo an attractive partner.
[[1]] primarily is the concept of not bearing children is most widely associated with the Nazi practice of forced sterilizing of citizens of undesirable types, although it has been practiced in many countries, particularly in the early 20th century. Eugenics also bears the stigma of evaluating people's desirability by their class - there may be more people in high classes who are smart, pretty or intelligent, but this is not an absolute link. There are plenty of people in low and middle classes who are smart, pretty and intelligent, and in high classes who are not.
Progenics instead focuses on encouraging married people to choose to conceive children by selecting optimal surrogate partners/donors, rather than intending to prevent childbearing by people thought to have undesirable traits. The philosophy of progenics is based on 1) the knowledge that humans are a byproduct of millions of years of evolution, 2) any one person might well have a set of traits that humankind would benefit from propagating, and 3) traits in general are likely to be inherited so people might as well avail themselves to a best set of traits.
People by definition are attracted to attractive people. Unattractive people knowing they are most likely not going to be able to woo and marry very attractive people leads to a range of behavior from the unfortunate to the abhorrent - overt lust to rape/seduction and even murder.
It is human nature deeply ingrained by evolution to value traits such as intelligence, strength and beauty, and it follows that people seek these positive traits in prospective mates. Indeed, unintelligent, weak and ugly children are prime targets for bullying. Parents wish the best for their children, including freedom from being bullied. Parents also wish the best for their children as they grow older and attempt to woo their own mates.
As both parents support each other in choosing to have children progenically and as long as source eggs and sperm from people who have beneficial traits are available, the stress of attempting to achieve marriage with a best mate is removed. Rather than trying to marry one of the best possible mates in absolute terms, simply marrying a mate with whom spending time is enjoyable becomes a more likely and acceptable outcome - "good enough" really is good enough, and a couple can take joy in knowing their children will excel.