A brother and sister recently announced plans to make a baby together.
The story of Samuel and Bronte Leighton-Dore was presented by many media outlets in an extraordinary way and, had you seen these alone, you might have believed the siblings were in an incestuous, broody relationship.
But here’s the deal: at no point will the pair be mingling their own DNA. Samuel is gay and wants children with his long-term partner. So Bronte offered her eggs, which will be implanted into a surrogate and impregnated by Samuel’s boyfriend. Easy peasy.
Since coming out with their intentions, the siblings have been called all sorts of things – sick, immoral, and dumb.
@HuffPostCanada very unusual ,hope the child is normal
— Loreen Breakey (@Ancef2016) August 5, 2016
But Samuel and Bronte are no fools – indeed, they are quite revolutionary, for they acknowledge the power of genetics. By using his sister’s eggs to have a child, Samuel is simply trying to keep things in the family.
Families matter, genetics matter. And that’s something that’s been forgotten over the last decade, as anonymous egg and sperm donation have soared in popularity.
Medical experts understand fertility treatment better than ever before, yet the public remains in the dark about the biological aspect of human development.
Many seem to think that, like organs, sperm and eggs can be easily transported into a new home afresh. But each carries a whole injection of personality from its creator.
I blame socialists for the rise in this nurturist thinking; they’ve peddled the idea that babies are a blank slate that can be shaped into anything depending on their environment.
The truth is trickier: scientific studies consistently suggest humans are the result of nature and nurture. Who you are is inextricably linked to your DNA. Even when raised apart, siblings and parents have been shown to share personality traits.
Nowadays a donor can be the medical equivalent of Father Christmas, dishing out gametes all over the world.
While it’s a lovely thing that fertility options are so accessible, prolific spreaders of seed often have no connection to their offspring. Hundreds – if not thousands – of children will never understand themselves in a biological context.
Increasing numbers of TV documentaries – like Sperm Donor Unknown and Long, Lost Family – demonstrate the confusion many adults feel when the identity of one or both of their genetic parents is a mystery.
A connection to biological relatives can also protect the kids.
In recent years, scientists have noticed the rise of Genetic Sexual Attraction – when two closely related individuals meet for the first time as adults and experience overpowering romantic feelings for each other.
It is said to happen at up to 50 per cent of such reunions and can only really be protected against when these people grow up knowing each other.
Essentially, we need to do more to ensure children understand and have contact with their genetic roots.
That’s why I’m encouraged by people like Samuel and Bronte, who advocate keeping the process as linked to their nearest and dearest as they can.
Of course that’s not always easy to achieve but, where it can be used, it gives parents and offspring a shared understanding of identity that will help them for the rest of their lives.
