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the Uni ted States just recently the
birth of an anonymous baby was
announced. What distinguished the
event was that the child was "fa–
thered" by sperm fr om an
unnamed Nobel Prize winne r
through the auspices of a sperm
bank that specializes in frozen
sperm from Nobel Prize winners
and other gifted individuals. Theo–
retically the child thus conceived
stands a good chance o f being
above average in abi lity.
Technicians involved in the arti–
ficial insemination process general–
ly try to match characteristics of
donors and receivers. But accidents
occur. There are cases such as that
of Henry and Kathryn L., both
from long lines of blond-haired ,
blue-eyed stock, who now have a
difficu lt time explaining to ac–
qu aintances the dark hair a nd
brown eyes of their new son!
That may be only a temporary
problem for the parents. But what
about the problems the children
conceived by A ID may eventually
face? What is the extent of psycho–
logical and social problems, of legal
complications they may confront in
li fe, never being able to know who
their real fathers are? There is even
a remole possibility that two indi–
viduals, without knowing they were
begotten by sperm from the same
father, may grow up, meet and
marry each other.
The reason for having recourse
to A1D has usually been the inabil–
ity of a husband to father a chi ld, at
least to father a healthy c hild.
Now, however, a n additional
motive is increasingly becoming a
factor. Single women-even les–
bians- are demanding their rights
to bear children of their own
through artificial insemination.
Furthermore, there are women
who desire children, but who are
unable-or unwilling-to bear chil–
dren themselves. Sorne women who
are capab le of ch ild bearing are
therefore "renting out" their wombs
for others. These surrogate mothers,
usually for a fee, bear children and
then surrender their rights to them.
Ordinarily the process used is art ifi–
cial insemination with sperm col–
lected from the husband of an inter-
·ested couple or from sorne other
donor. An alternate method now
being worked on is to transplant a
32
fertilized egg from one woman into
the womb of another- a surrogate.
Sorne go so far as to suggest that an
adaptation of such a procedure will
help make certain abortion obsolete,
since unwanted embryos, instead of
being aborted, will merely be trans–
planted, allowed to develop and,
after birth, be offered for adoption.
The conventional justification for
surrogate motherhood is that it is a
way to provide chi ldren for many
childless couples. But it is aJso
expected that increasing numbers of
single women, who do not them–
selves want to be pregnant, will seek
to have an artificially inseminated
surrogate bear children for them.
Likewise, single men and homosex–
uals are beginning to demand their
"rights" to have children through
the services of surrogates.
In these arrangements and pro–
cedures, people are essentially
thinking long and hard about
them–
selves-about their
desi res,
their
needs,
their
convenience. But how
much consideration is given to the
welfare of the children?
Where Does the World Go From
Here?
In 1978 test-tube technology took
its first giant leap as the attention
of the whole world was briefly
focused on a dramatic event in
Eng land . It was the fi rst recorded
birth of a baby conceived outside of
a woman's uterus. Specifi cally, in a
laboratory dish. During this year
alone, a scant four years later, up to
lOO
such births are expected in var–
ious parts of the world.
The technique, called
in vitro
fer–
tilization, calls for the removal of a
ripe human egg from a woman's ova–
ry. The egg, barely visible without
the aid of a microscope, is placed in a
petri dish or test tube. Sperm from
the husband is added to the dish.
lf
all goes well, one of the sperm cells
fertilizes the egg. The developing
embryo is a ll owed to grow in
nutrient solut ion for about 48 hours,
then it is transferred to the mother's
womb in the hope that it will develop
as a normal fetus.
A var iation of the procedure,
already mentioned, would have the
embryo placed in a rented womb.
Or, if plans for the not too distant
future come to pass, an
artificial
womb! The apparent nearness of
such a prospect recalls what Aldous
Huxley described more than a gen–
eration ago in his
Brave New
World.
He portrayed an age when
babies would be engineered: rou–
tinely conceived in test-tubes from
selected sperm and ova, incubated
and " born" in laboratories. In that
world there would no longer be a
connection between sexual !ove and
intercourse and reproduction . The
family unit would become ques–
tionable in the mi nds of these prog–
nosticators. The world is making
rapid strides toward such a human–
ly devised society.
Certain techniques already in
use are disturbing in themselves.
It
has been discovered, for example,
that giving a woman fertility drugs
increases the number of available
eggs. More than one egg can thus
be placed into a petri dish, better–
ing the chances of successful
in
vitro
fertilization.
lf
more than one
embryo results, the presumed "fit–
test" can be placed in the mother's
womb. The surplus embryos–
those less "fit," or those of an
undesired sex or other characteris–
tic- can be destroyed.
The prospect has caused críes of
alarm from many quarters where
such a practice is likened to abor–
tion. What right, prolifers ask, do
laboratory workers have to decide
who shall live and who shal l d ie?
Louder críes yet , though, are
uttered when it is reaJized that the
surplus embryos can also be kept
for observation and experimenta–
tion! After al! , critics ask, what is to
prevent someone from attempting
to allow the development of a sur–
plus embryo in a laboratory for
days, weeks-even as long as possi–
ble up to the full term?
Let 's face it, scient ists a r e
human beings. They are driven by
curiosity or they wouldn' t be in the
field of science.
The fri g hte ning poss ibiliti es
even go beyond ordinary human
reproduction. One way of "testing"
the viability of human sperm is to
inject it into the eggs of hamsters
and allow the results to grow to the
eight cell stage befare being dis–
posed of. Eventually, it is feared,
someone wi ll surely wonder what
happens after the eight cell stage.
Another subject has fired imagi–
(Continued on page 34)
The PLAIN TRUTH