www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall The Children of 'Donor 401'

Lord have mercy! Forgive us Lord for our distorted and confused ethics and for the spoiled fruit of our scientific knowledge and advancement...

By Lois Romano

Making a Connection

One morning in 2006 Kimberly, then a 38-year-old New York therapist, was getting her three children ready for their day at preschool. She was cooking breakfast for her two daughters and one son when her husband, Ken, called out from another part of the house, telling her there was a morning show segment on that she should watch.

Kimberly (who did not want her last name used) turned on the television in the kitchen. As the camera panned across a group of youngsters and infants visiting the show's studio with their mothers, she moved closer to the screen -- and got chills. Then one of her daughters screeched, "Mommy, that girl looks just like us!"

Kimberly's daughter was right: Every single child did look remarkably like hers. Then she heard the commentary: "Sperm Donor 401...German background..." The seven women onscreen were talking to the show's host about a man neither she nor they had ever met: the biological father of all their children....

http://lifestyle.msn.com/familyandp...aspx?cp-documentid=8174747&GT1=32001

I guess Hallmark will have to create a very special type of Father's Day card for "Sperm Donor 401"..

I.F.

You'd think that the consequences of surrogation would be clear enough with Abraham's use of Hagar.

Wasn't there a movie made in the 80's or 90's about Hitler's sperm being used to create look-alike children. I remember it was kind of scarey.

No - That movie was about 'cloning' Hitler. If I were in the Vatican, this is where I would be focusing my time.

http://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsa-d/boysfrombrazil.htm

Now I have an obscure Rolling Stones song called "2000 Man" going through my mind... "Well, my name is a number, A piece of plastic film..."

Well, their daddy's a number...

Aargh!

Weird! We've gotten really arrogant about being parents. When we can't have kids instead of praying for a miracle or accepting that natural childbearing isn't in the cards there's sperm donors and in vitro, surrogate mothers. ADOPT!!

There was a large article in last Sunday's local newspaper about a couple who have twins from such a donor. The babies are beautiful and certainly did nothing wrong. But what I don't understand is that many who are given children by God, don't want them. Yet many who are not given children by God will often go to any lengths to get them. It doesn't make any sense to me.

Some women who have avoided children at any length change their mind and then realize that the abortion left them infertile. Would it be beyond reason for them to go to any length to have children?

I'm sure that case is rare. My point would be that when the culture of death brings people to blur or shatter the ethical boundaries of life and personhood, children are too often brought forth with utility and too often prevented with care.

Terry

I think that we are ignoring the fact that those who 'donate sperm' for money (though I would otherwise have utmost compassion for those who find themselves in desperate financial situations) are depraved individuals who are engaging in atleast two acts of grave/mortal sin.

Infact, I think that what they are doing is as equally reprehensible as the women who impregnate themselves like that.

Let's remember that although this article highlights a married couple, many of those who are impregnated this way are single or gay women.

To conceive a child without the benefit of a father is selfish, but to deny a child the chance to meet the person whose genetic makeup they share is even more selfish...

How utterly horrible it is of these women to have to tell their child that their father was 'anonymously donated sperm'. How utterly debasing that is to the dignity and personhood of that child.
Lord have mercy!

Alice

It is painful for a family to uncover a secret and learn that their father and grandfather was not the man who they knew as daddy and granddad. With the pain I�ve seen in that kind of situation, I can imagine the pain children will face if they ever wonder why �I don�t look like daddy�.

I agree with you that for children of single mothers and lesbians who have anonymous fathers, the pain can be even more intense without a father figure in their lives. I don't understand why modern feminism has rejected fatherhood and masculinity to the degree that it has. A girl needs a daddy to teach her how she should be treated and loved by men, just as boys need to be taught how to respect women.

I have to wonder when we�ll be seeing the moral consequences of human cloning and the modification of a woman�s cells to create sperms.

Terry

It would be nice if everyone considered it their Christian moral obligation to donate blood once per year and donate any payment they received to a Christian charity of their choice. Unfotunately, that does not occur in our society, so, the Red Cross is forced to pay people for their blood. State of the art technologies assure society that our blood is more or less 100% safe from microbial pathogens.

But what about a sperm or egg donor. Again, the medical community want to be assured that the 'best' donations are made available to potential recepient therefore they offer money to prospective donors. This assures the medical experts that they are getting the 'best' possible donations. Perhaps this is where the story gets icky. The selectionn process is somewhat analogous to the what the NAZI were proposing. You know, designing perfect little Arian babies with supergenious IQ.s, Olympian athletic qualities, etc.... Unfortunately, this is where society is going, and I for one think it needs to be seriously questioned.

I.F.