There are practical and ethical problems aplenty in this. One wonders too how the now 7 yr old child will cope on finding that his mothers would not have given him life if had they known what they know now.

<A lesbian couple sues sperm bank after discovering their Ph. D donor was actually a mentally ill criminal

Couple sues sperm after discovering donor's history

HE WAS good on paper: Eloquent, mature, healthy and smart to boot.

That’s why Angela Collins and Margaret Elizabeth Hanson say they chose Donor 9623 to be the biological father of their child.

Then last June, almost seven years after Collins gave birth to a son conceived with his sperm, they got a batch of emails from the sperm bank that unexpectedly — and perhaps mistakenly — included the donor’s name. That set them on a sleuthing mission that quickly revealed he is schizophrenic, dropped out of college and had been arrested for burglary, they said in a lawsuit filed March 31 in Atlanta.

On top of that, the photo of him they’d seen when deciding on a donor had been altered to remove a large mole on his cheek, the suit says.

Collins and Hanson said the Atlanta sperm bank promoted the donor’s sperm, saying it came from a man with an IQ of 160, an undergraduate degree in neuroscience and a master’s degree in artificial intelligence, who was pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience engineering [and no mole presumably].
http://tinyurl.com/mpmwssh

"Collins and Hanson say they have suffered emotional and financial damages and are suing for fraud, negligent misrepresentation, breach of warranty, and unfair business practices."

Question is, will they be treating the son differently now that the couple know that his genes and future prospects are average and likely no better than their own.

Who is the victim here?

What a horrible situation!
I think they have every right to sue the sperm bank (too late to sue the actual sperm though...lol). Any company who deliberately lies about their product should expect trouble.

I wouldn't imagine they would treat the child any differently because they would have already bonded closely to him by this time.
Certainly they would be fearful for his future now though, because schizophrenia tends to run in families. What if the boy asks about his father?

I think any couple who found out this info about their sperm donor would be rightly very upset, but because it is a lesbian couple much more will be made about the situation in a place like America.

OTB,

Having read the article as well, you missed one extremely salient point. The donor was suffering from schizophrenia which is genetically inherited, incurable, and pretty much one of the nastiest diseases to inherit as the sufferers are prone to violence and wildly antisocial behaviour.

And while I doubt that the parents would reject the child, I would disagree that their child's prospects are average and no better than the parents, and conclude that the fertility clinic is guilty of serious fraud and should be made an example of.

G'day there ONTHEBEACH...

Practical and ethical issues aplenty, too right ! I'll cop a real kickin' for this, but I'm a big boy, I can handle it. Firstly, I don't believe two lesbians should be permitted to 'engineer' a baby. A child in this tough world needs a (female) mother and a (male) father. Secondly, this whole practice of 'ordering' a designer baby is reprehensible. A baby is a product of nature, not a bespoke suit ?

These fertility clinics or sperm banks should restrict their practice to assisting married heterosexual couples with having a child, should circumstances prevent that couple from conceiving in the more traditional ways.

I'll no doubt be considered utterly out of sync, with modern, (contemporary) standards that currently prevail within society ? Where all this neonate engineering now seems to pervade normal obstetric and gynaecological practice, and is now viewed as legitimate ? Perhaps there within medicine itself, lies the problem ? Too much 'filthy lucre' to be made, I wonder ?

While still working, almost up until I retired, It never ceased to amaze me the spiralling instances of shattered or damaged homes and families, that I've witnessed, destroyed by spontaneous family violence, ABH, manslaughter and even murder ? Most of which was as a consequence of the overindulgence of alcohol or intemperate use illicit drugs ? More often than not caused by our 'egalitarian' and 'over-sophisticated' society, choosing to cast out, just about every single moral and ethical criterion, we used to have in place !

Believe me when I say, I'm certainly no bible thumping God botherer, quite the contrary, but our society is rapidly disintegrating before our eyes. Our ravenous desire to shed all those previous (but important) 'old fashioned' standards and morals has seemingly led us down this perilous track, or should it be 'The Road to Perdition' ? The only question is...? What will destroy us first, this moral decay or the rapidly expanding Islamic groups like ISAL or ISIS ?

Wow, we sure have a very rosy future confronting us all eh ONTHEBEACH ?

Shadow Minister,

You are right to say that the business should be accountable and the alleged misrepresentation is serious.

However, what manner of person/s shop for a designer baby, particularly from a stud with that pedigree - superior intellect and social skills?

Also, it takes a special sort of stupid, encouraged by vanity and greed to order such DNA. On stupid, what were they thinking of going to an unregulated supplier with doubtless better promises for a cheaper investment. Due diligence should have been first priority, what blinded them to that?

The child is the victim. He was brought into this world by their decision. Presumably 50% of his genes are from one of the lesbians. I did not bother to check if one was the mother. However the child has inherited genetic risks and a possible lifetime of uncertainty and unhappiness. On top of that his mothers have shown that he was definitely not what they were hoping for and he doesn't have that bright career future they wanted (and for what?).

o sung wu,

I tend to agree with you. This couple quite deliberately went to another country, to the US to deal with an unregulated supplier. They are Canadian. Their reasoning is not given in the report, however it could have been a transaction that was not permissible under Canadian jurisdiction.

Now the seven year old child suffers. There likely consequences for the Canadian taxpayer. -Selfishness, ego-centrism, 'me-me-me' trumps obeying laws and considering consequences and community.

That business, lawyers and the women all deserve one another. Long may the suit run! Poor kid though, the names are public and for his lifetime he endure the obvious questions, from his insurers and possible employers too.

Frankly most people would not sue because the child would become the victim. -Few people would put themselves in that position in the first place. Sure, report to authorities, but make damned sure there is no chance the boy could ever be identified.

The best interests of the child? So easy to forget in modern times, apparently.

A small baby is brought into the world without any say whatsoever ? This tiny little baby is a living human being, not some 'plaything' for a group of people who wish to experiment with societie's values ?

Serves these people right, they choose to have a child in 'human made system' instead of the natural system eg. man + woman, for reproduction purposes.

So they suffer the consequences, but unfortunately the only one really suffering is the child. For all any of us know, that child may go on to excel in other areas of life like athletic achievement or artistic accomplishment etc. Just because the sperm donor was not what was advertised with academic prowess, etc, does not necessarily mean it's a failure. Remember, the child, like every other, only has 50% of that donor's contribution.

ROJAMA...

I only hope you're right ? Perhaps the child will go on to develop into a quality singer or dancer or whatever...? As far as the two 'lesbian-parents' - personally I couldn't give a stuff about them or their high price sperm clinic ! It's the welfare and happiness of this tiny little child, that counts in my book, the rest of 'em tough !

the child is always last especially among those who deny a child a mother or father. That is why they usually become militant and even violent in some pseudo 'moral' cause while condoning gross immorality.

Dear Runner

People are by nature, have 3 points:)....Eat..Kill..Babies:)..

"the child is always last especially among those who deny a child a mother or father. That is why they usually become militant and even violent in some pseudo 'moral' cause while condoning gross immorality"

Gezzzzz....Runner! Some might think science is a bad thing:)

Tall

Perhaps it isn't the science at fault but rather the use some make of it.

Psychologists studying adolescent boy and girl membership of gangs in the US have consistently found that a common precursor of gang membership is the fatherless family.

It turns out that the nuclear family so despised and dumped on by feminists and leftist 'Progressives' aka International Socialists is the best proof against gang membership.

Gang women demonstrate early-life exposure to abuse and parental crime for example drug taking, and father loss. A criminal parent multiplies the risks of abuse and victimisation leading to gang membership and similar criminal behavior and other crimes.

That is not to say that a child raised by a sole parent or in the subject case by lesbians will necessarily suffer deprivations and personal problems. However the odds are stacked in the favour of the child raised in a nuclear family where the father is present and there is no parental criminality (or one assumes rejection of authority).

This whole case is regrettable but humans today have grown away from the conventional means’ (meaning humans are branching out) into unknown territory… (Being the most people on the planet ever) “Perhaps it isn't the science at fault but rather the use some make of it.”
And perhaps you’re right OTB and the history of us all is well documented with trying new things that the last gen simply can’t understand for the life of them why that don’t fit in the general way of life as some wish to implement a degree of understandings to how a child is programed in the first place. “I could point a few fingers to the problems if it makes some feel better” but that’s not going to help this situation. Human DNA should be scanned before any birth takes place, but that’s only my opinion….

Tall

Apart from the fact that a Lesbian couple were allowed to have a baby in the first place, which I find appalling. My personal view to which I am entitled without being called Homophobic. The upbringing of the child is in their hands. The fact that it is a boy child puts the child behind the 8 ball for a start. How they treat this boy child because, he is a boy & now because he is not the "perfect" child they thought he was going to be is another matter.

If they bring the boy child up with all the love, attention & respect of a boy child in a normal relationship, the boy child will turn out OK. However, it seems that the Lesbians have decided that this isn't the child they designed so he will be most likely rejected & will turn out with problems.

Just whose fault it for how the child turns out. the Donor Father or the Lesbian Couples? I think the Lesbian Couple. It's the environment that makes the child.

Jayb...."Apart from the fact that a Lesbian couple were allowed to have a baby in the first place, which I find appalling"...then again what don't you find appalling?

The typical right up themselves mentality is well know as the only right ones of thinking's...lol...The fact is Jayb, gay couples are the cure for what you fear...and the child will see the majority of how the general community works and the sheep-code will apply:)

Jayb..They say two rights don't make a wrong....and two wrongs don't make a right:)....

Tally

Tally: The typical right up themselves mentality is well known as the only right ones of thinking's

I'm what you would call far from up myself, Daaarlingggg.

Tally: The fact is Jayb, gay couples are the cure for what you fear.

I feel for the child, with two male hating women bringing him up. Especially as he is NOT the perfect child they wanted (& a boy, to boot.)

Tally: and the child will see the majority of how the general community works and the sheep-code will apply:)

Wonder what he did to deserve this life & most likely commit suicide sometime in the future. Poor little buggar.

Tally: Jayb..and two wrongs don't make a right:)....

One Lezzo, wrong. Two Lezzo's, wrong...wrong. It's not right at all. This is where Child Services should step in, fast

Jayb...I always have respected your opinion until now. "This is where Child Services should step in, fast"...and what action do you think they should take...?

Tally