posted
I'm not sure I understand. Why is that sick? It isn't incest - at least, not in the fashion that I normally understand the term. Essentially, sperm from one man was used to fertilize an egg from an unrelated woman. The man's sister then carried the child to term. So what?
Cat "much ado about nothing" Grey
-------------------- "Beer assuages grief. No one tells you that." ~Arrow-Tech IV
Posts: 1612 | From: Darkest America (Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas) | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
I'm not sure why it's sick either. Doesn't this sort of thing happen often, with relatives being the surrogate mothers? I seem to recall hearing of cases where the daughter couldn't carry a baby, so her mother (the baby's grandmother) carried it for her. Aside from the age, the only difference I see is that the 'surrogate' mom is raising the baby.
I get the feeling this wouldn't be such a moral issue if the woman who donated the egg had also been the one to carry the baby.
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posted
My recollection from a different article that I read was that it would have been forbidden in France not because of the relationships but because fertility treatments for post-menopausal women are not allowed.
quote:Originally posted by Chava: My recollection from a different article that I read was that it would have been forbidden in France not because of the relationships but because fertility treatments for post-menopausal women are not allowed.
Chava
...Which is a perfectly good and legitimate reason to forbid the proceedure. But that doesn't seem to be the source of the outrage, though it is mentioned in there. Instead, we have professor Axel Kahn, talking about "disturbing ethical issues."
quote: "There is something that seems shocking," Kahn, who heads France's Ethic's Committee, told France Info radio Wednesday. "There is a disruption of all the family ties."
To the which I can only ask, what disturbing ethical issues?
Cat "I'm disturbed by how easily outraged these people are" Grey
-------------------- "Beer assuages grief. No one tells you that." ~Arrow-Tech IV
Posts: 1612 | From: Darkest America (Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas) | Registered: Feb 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Cat Grey, Sorcerer's Apprentice: To the which I can only ask, what disturbing ethical issues?
Probably still the near incest thing. Brother and Sister and mom and dad, even if both are not biologically so. I can definately see how it could be confusing for the child growing up. No matter how well the child understands, it will be difficult in school when they talk about families. Mom and Dad are also Auntie and Uncle.
I still think that if it had been another woman that carried the child, this wouldn't have made the news at all. I'm sure it's not the first time that a sibling's sperm or egg has been donated within the family.
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Farkle the curmudgeon
The Red and the Green Stamps
posted
A quick search hasn't turned up any current links but it was reported here a little differently:
They lied to the clinic involved saying they were husband and wife, not brother and sister. The fact that no-one checked is a problem.
There is some reporting that in fact they underwent the procedure to fulfil a requirement to claim an inheritance, not for the sake of having a child. The mother denies this.
Her age, is it right for someone well past menopause to be accessing the IVF resources, is that fair on the kid?
posted
The way it has been reported here, there are in fact two babies - the boy, who was implanted into the 62 year old, and a girl, who was implanted into the woman who donated the eggs. The brother and sister are raising both babies.
I'm a little disturbed by the media insistance on describing this as "social incest" and the total innaccuracy in reporting the children's relationships to each of the adults involved. They babies are brother and sister - having the same biological parents, and the fact that their aunt was the surrogate who carried on of them to term doesn't change their actual relationship to the rest of the family.
That said, I found it disturbing that their alleged motivation for bringing these children into the world was purely to provide a close relative to whom their fortune can be left. Surely if they didn't want to leave it to their distant relatives, they could have donated it to charity.
I'd also be very concerned about any ob/gun who can't take an educated guess regarding a woman's age. Being a few years out, I can understand, but I would have thought that fairly thorough testing is undertaken before accepting people into IVF programmes and that such testing should have given some clue to the fact that the sister was well and truly post-menopausal. I doubt many IVF programmes generally implant into the embryos for a couple into TWO women at the same time either.
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