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| A winning formula |
Over the years, as sperm donation has increasingly become a public matter, more of the children born from donor sperm are attempting to find their biological fathers.
As people see this movie over the Thanksgiving holiday, I think that it will open up some broader questions about how we can better regulate this industry. I think the film should also raise discussions about just how much information should be available to children born from donors in order for them to better explore their own identity. I think everybody wants to know about their backgrounds, and for some people, this information might make them feel more whole and create a more stable sense of identity.
Is it important to find your biological parents? Is your family tree an artificial construct, potentially filled with pairs of fathers and mothers that are irrelevant to your genetic history? This will increasingly become the case, and even with a certain amount of social conditioning to dismiss a genetic connection to your "roots", I suspect most people deep down would like to know more about their genetic history. But what also about the crazy potential that a man can father hundreds of children? Is this a curse or a blessing? Interesting times.
533 children from one father
I think it is important.
ReplyDeleteSomeone close to me is adopted and while he found his birth mother some years ago, this woman was unwilling to disclose the father's identity, nor did she encourage contact with half siblings.
This person has a history of drug and alcohol abuse (although abstinent several years now) as well as troubled adult relationships.
I guess it comes down to nature vs nurture and the desire to understand why we are who we are. Was my friend's behaviour socially learned? Were his attachment and depression issues due to not knowing who he really is or where he comes from? Or were they genetic/biological and would have occurred regardless?
As he gets older he wonders is there a history of hereditary medical conditions ie: heart or cancer?
It must be difficult not knowing. I sometimes wonder if the not knowing is the root of all his past problems and continued bouts of depression.
Hi Jackie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment.
I think that disconnection from a person's family can undermine how well they can cope with life's challenges, yet despite the worst of circumstances, some can also rise like a phoenix out the ashes of their past.