Posted on 09/03/2012 3:33:38 PM PDT by NYer
Good grief: A sperm bank is bragging that it set the record of having children born with 40 year-old sperm.
From the press release, headlined “World Record Shattered:”
Late in August, twin girls were born to a couple who used in vitro fertilization (IVF) to achieve pregnancy. On the surface, this may look like just another of the increasingly common success stories for the IVF industry. But this story has its own unique twist that makes it different from every other IVF pregnancy—the sperm used to fertilize the egg was frozen over 40 years ago, shattering the existing record of 28 years for a successful live birth through cryopreserved sperm.
Then, the self interest of the donor:
In 1971, a Japanese American war hero banked his sperm with a sperm bank where Russ Bierbaum, a young pioneer in reproductive tissue cryopreservation, was the acting laboratory technician. The war hero was the “first born” of a proud Japanese family whose culture dictates the family blood line be carried on through the first born son. Shortly after learning he and his wife would never have children of their own, he discovered none of his siblings were going to be able to preserve the family blood line either. That’s when he started the journey to maintaining his heritage through a surrogate.
Having banked his sperm, he contacted a surrogate agency to find a mother for the child who would save his family’s blood line. In the years that followed, the dream faded—surrogates were hard to find and the few who were willing were unable to achieve successful pregnancies. Yet his hope remained undeterred; as a successful American businessman, he continued to put money into a trust that would one day provide for the child he remained committed to fathering. Ultimately, Family Formation Law Offices of Michelsen and Cohen were able to connect him with a couple who was seeking pregnancy through donor sperm and was eager to become part of a much greater story. In late fall of 2011, a successful pregnancy was announced, followed nearly nine months later with the birth of twin girls.
So, the parents wanted to be part of a “greater story.” This tells us much of what is wrong with our current culture.
Worse, this amounts to unethical human experimentation. Who knows what 40 years in the deep freeze could do to the fertilizing cells, and what potential impact such long term cold storage could potentially have on the health of children? Moreover, is this any way to make children? To set records so a man can fulfill his dream of passing his genes down the generations?
But now oncologists are supposed to push the idea for their cancer patients:
This proves that a young male can effectively store semen and confidently use it 20, 30, or 40 years later to start a family,” said Bierbaum. “We’re hoping this kind of news will convince oncology professionals to be more proactive about discussing future fertility with their patients and begin the necessary steps to assure that their patients have been informed.”
I don’t think adding even more consumerist agendas to reproduction is a good thing at all.
LifeNews.com Note: Wesley J. Smith, J.D., is a special consultant to the Center for Bioethics and Culture. He writes at his blog, Secondhand Smoke.
Ping!
Personally, I prefer the old-fashioned method, myself.....
Freeze dried coffee just ain’t as good as fresh ground....
At birth the twin girls looked 40 years old.
Why didn’t they just use Hugh Hefner sperm, it is even older and colder!
Wait until the lawyers get finished. They will have the newborn filing for social security survivor benefits once they identify the late former owner of the specimen.
but, in fact, the Japanese American man IS still alive and technically there is no need for his “40 year old sperm” as he can provide a new “sample” today
apparently, he too wanted more than children from his “blood line; he wanted to be part of a “bigger story”
Justin Bieber thinks this message tastes stale.
It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.
She has a way of striking back.
And the poor child. “Sweetie, you were a great little experiment.”
May be beneficial for people that suffer cancer and are unable to have children after chemo. I know a couple where the guy had some kind of disease as a child and they were unable to have a child. Ended up adopting a nephew from a troubled sister, but they could have easily raised a bunch more if nature didn’t conspire against them.
Generally, as long as the technology is used to bring children into the world, I consider it moral, there is no such thing as life unworthy of life.
Sperm produced by a man deteriorates with his age. What that means is that this man’s 40-year old sperm is likely to be of better quality (fewer abnormalities) than what the man produces currently.
Oh No!!!! Mr. Bill
Luddites don’t understand situations like that. For them, since the process is artificial, the child thus created is “unnatural” and does not deserve to exist. They’d rather curse the child than re-examine their dogma.
You already have someone commenting about how “aged” the newborns look, LOL.
I view it same as a child conceived in rape (a more extreme case), the sins of the father are not to be used against the child.
At least these children are wanted.
>>Generally, as long as the technology is used to bring children into the world, I consider it moral, there is no such thing as life unworthy of life.<<
So it doesn’t matter at all to you how many of the fertilized eggs were dumped in the trash?
Do you know that they don’t fertilize just one egg, right? AND if there are more than one that makes it into the “lucky embryo club” the extras are just sucked out, right?
A comment at Mr. Smith’s blog pointed out that the gentleman now has daughters, not the Ichiro (Number One Son) he was hoping for. Best wishes to the little girls. I hope someone loves them.
>>Luddites don’t understand situations like that<<
Oh LOL!!! Aren’t you a clever little N00b?
James C. Bennett
Since Jan 4, 2010
Babies are not yarns. And those here who are disgusted by the creation of multiple babies for the one that makes it, are far from Luddites, looking out for their jobs.
We are Pro-Life AS IS Free Republic. Perhaps you should know your audience before you call names.
The kid will ahve an overwhelming urge to vote for Richard Nixon, listen to The Carpenters, and watch All In The Family.
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