Posted on 10/06/2007 5:53:56 AM PDT by NYer
A man of 72 is to donate sperm to try to father his own 'grandchild'.
He has been cleared to provide the sperm to his daughter-in-law to allow her to become a mother.
Any baby born will be its grandfather's genetic child and a halfbrother or half-sister to the man it takes to be its father.
What do you think about the case? Join the debate
The case - believed to be the first of its kind in the UK - raises ethical questions about how well the child will cope with such unusual family circumstances.
The Harley Street doctors treating the couple, however, say that the child's interests were paramount when taking the decision.
The couple, whose identity is being kept secret, opted for donor sperm after IVF treatment with the husband's own failed.
They turned to the husband's father, rather than an anonymous donor, because they wanted a child as genetically similar to both families as possible.
Peter Bowen-Simpkins, codirector of the London Women's Clinic which is carrying out the procedure, said the couple and the grandfather had undergone extensive counselling.
"I've certainly never come across a case like this before," he said.
"But advancements in fertility treatment have overcome a lot of taboos in science which means that people are prepared to consider all sorts of options.
"Obviously, the wife's mother-inlaw also had to be included in all of the conversations but she has no objections.
"Society has also changed its perceptions of what is and what is not acceptable.
"In this case, keeping the genetic identity of the child similar to their own was a huge factor.
"The husband does not have a brother, which is why he chose his own father to assist."
Kamal Ahuja, the clinic's scientific director, said: "We spent many, many months deliberating this case and discussed it with our ethics committee and with counsellors and have come to the conclusion that they shouldn't have been denied treatment."
It is not known if the couple, who are in their thirties, intend to tell the child about its parentage.
The child will be able to track down its biological father on turning 18.
Critics cautioned that the child could face major identity issues.
Philippa Taylor, of Care, a Christian charity, said: "The reproductive whims of parents to do some deliberate and unnecessary social engineering should not be put before the welfare of the child.
"Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should."
A spokesman for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said donations from family members were legal and relatively common.
Preliminary tests at the clinic suggest that the 72-year-old's sperm is viable.
I don't know about that being better - at least that way your wife won't be giving birth to your own brother or sister. That, I think, is even more strange.
Adopting would avoid all of these scenarios, however.
Actually, I don't think the child should know at all in either circumstance.
However, I would have to disagree with you. As for the child, you don't think it would be more strange to find out your dad is really your brother? As for the mother, you don't think it would be more strange to give birth to your husband's own brother or sister? As the father, you don't think it would be more strange to have your own wife give birth to your own brother or sister?
Yes, I guess giving birth to your own husband's brother or sister is the next closest thing "genetically"...but really...it's a sad situation, no doubt, but does this really make the situation better, or add more problems down the road? There are ways they could still raise children without giving birth to a spouse's own siblings.
If this had been done from “on tap” vs “from a bottle” it would be illegal.
Stop it my head is exploding..:)
I have given some thought to how I would react if I got a phone call now and was informed that my grandpa was really my father and my father was my brother......actually I think it would be quite funny. But I am 53....at age 18 it would have "blown my mind man" and freaked me out.
Like I said before, better the parents adopt than do this freaky brave new world stuff. But its their choice.
“My own belief is that if the couple was approaching their difficulty in conceiving in the right spirit of parenthood, they would adopt natural-born children who needed a good home; of which there is no shortage in the world.”
I don’t agree that this “Grandpa Donor” is a good idea...
However, I always wonder about statements like this...
I don’t know if you all know very much about adoption..so PLEASE forgive me if I am irritating here...
It’s just that I know SEVERAL couples who couldn’t have children of their own and have gone the route of adoption..
It is NOT easy..and we always HEAR of how many children in the world need a home.
Well..I am telling you...getting those children from their orphanage..or foster home..or off the streets is HUGELY expensive (like THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of dollars)...and can TAKE YEARS to accomplish.
YEARS!
There are certainly still domestic adoptions here in the US.
But, they are largely OPEN adoptions meaning that the bio parent or parents can have various kinds of contact with the adopted child.
Many adoptive parents participate in this against their opinion of what is right for the child because it is the only way for them to GET a baby...
International adoptions would then, seem like the best route to go...the waiting list for China is now several years....many Countries have CLOSED their boarders to adoptions...or made is so difficult and expensive that it is prohibitive.
I have a relative who went to Khazakstan 7 years ago and brought home a 10 month old girl and a 2.5 year old boy...
They spent over 32 THOUSAND DOLLARS to adopt these 2 ORPHANS..
And one of the children was “not as expensive” because he had some medical issues.
Now, these same parents are fostering 2 children.
They think that they will be able to adopt the young girl who has been with them since birth (she is now 2.5)..
They are ABOUT TO LOSE THEIR BOY though..who is the FULL SIBLING of the young girl.
They have had him since he was 3 DAYS old..and he is now almost 1.5....
They have a lawyer of course...but it is just insane...
INSANE...
Anyway...I just wanted to bring that up...it really isn’t that I agree with the above scenario...
I just think that saying “there are a zillion children in the world who need adopting..why don’t they go get one of them”....is a statement based more on how things “used to be”...
Also, in case anyone would think that these are isolated incidents which don’t represent the difficulties in today’s world of domestic and international adoption..I have many, MANY more stories I could share..
They are so sad...
It is not inbreeding, they are not related by blood. My worry would be his age and how that might effect the health of the sperm, I would not even consider it for my self or my family, but it is really their personal business, too bad it has been made public.
Agreed.
How about just not tell the child?
LOL.
It sounds funny, I know,
But it really is so,
Oh, I’m my own grandpa.
I’m my own grandpa.
I’m my own grandpa.
It sounds funny, I know,
But it really is so,
Oh, I’m my own grandpa.
Now many, many years ago, when I was twenty-three,
I was married to a widow who was pretty as could be.
This widow had a grown-up daughter who had hair of red.
My father fell in love with her, and soon they, too, were wed.
This made my dad my son-in-law and changed my very life,
My daughter was my mother, cause she was my father’s wife.
To complicate the matter, even though it brought me joy,
I soon became the father of a bouncing baby boy.
My little baby then became a brother-in-law to Dad,
And so became my uncle, though it made me very sad.
For if he was my uncle, then that also made him brother
Of the widow’s grown-up daughter, who, of course, was my stepmother.
Father’s wife then had a son who kept him on the run,
And he became my grandchild, for he was my daughter’s son.
My wife is now my mother’s mother, and it makes me blue,
Because, although she is my wife, she’s my grandmother, too.
Now if my wife is my grandmother, then I’m her grandchild,
And everytime I think of it, it nearly drives me wild,
For now I have become the strangest case you ever saw
As husband of my grandmother, I am my own grandpa!
I’m my own grandpa.
I’m my own grandpa.
It sounds funny, I know, but it really is so,
Oh, I’m my own grandpa.
“I think it would be very weird just to know that you had been concieved by this process”
There is no comfortable way for thinking about how you were conceived.
It isn’t inherently bad for the child, psychologically or otherwise. The only bad is from people (including other children) around the child whose irrational cultural bias prejudices them against it.
Possibly, but it is unlikely the same half of the grandfather’s genes will be passed on to the new baby that was passed on to the father. Additionally, with a daughter you guarantee an entire chromosome (grandmother’s X) that the father (excepting certain chromosomal anomalies) does not have.
Chances are the new baby, if a boy, will have much less than half the genes of the father. If a girl, less still. But whether a boy or girl, it will almost certainly share more genes with the father than if a random sperm donor was used.
What do you mean? The very first thing you should do when a child first learns how to talk is to describe to him how he was conceived.
wrinkled toothless sperm
Many people want to have babies, if possible, to control the prenatal and post-natal and early infancy environments. There is nothing wrong with donation of gametes. It should be no different to donation of other organs. Parenting is a verb, and those who do it well are parents. Period.
As you well know, anytime you bring a child to the doctor, with a problem, the first question they ask is: "Is there a history of such and such in your family?" Genetics plays a big role in medicine today. And even if the family manages to keep the paternal donor's information a 'secret', the child will one day be an adult and find out.
The decision to pursue this course of action is simply an act of greed. In this woman's desire to have a child, she has taken the "it's all about me" route with no concern for the offspring.
You know, I’ve never googled myself...ever. I mean on the internet of course. I’m afraid to see what I would get.
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