(A Truism)"If You Can't Leave Your Mark, Give Up": Is Procreation That Mark?
I came upon that classic truism "If you can't leave your mark, give up" and then I wondered about procreation as a way to follow the truism. Is there a human necessity for us to find ways to bring a child into the world in order to leave our mark in the world for the future? Of course, for those who can "automatically" procreate, this may not always be the basis for the creation of an offspring. But for those who can't have children for one medical or biologic reason or another is this need to leave a mark so pervasive as to encourage the single or couple to attempt procreation through one method or another with the help of fertility clinics and the current science of creating an embryo along with implantation and delivery rather than adopting a child? Is instilling our genes into the genetic pools of the future essential to ensure that our life has left that mark? Is this the basic motivation of those who enter a fertility clinic for help? I would like to read the answers from all my visitors with regard to these questions but particularly from those who have utilized fertility clinics . ..Maurice.
Graphic: Photograph I took of a wooden bench at Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, CA, June 2012.
posted by Maurice Bernstein, M.D. @ 6:03:00 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Personally speaking, I find the infertility industry quite distasteful. Sales of eggs, surrogacy and AI are quite controversial procedures. What I find should (and is) banned is the kind of surrogacy still legal in India, where mothers are kept in the clinics, prison style without being allowed out until they've given birth. Enough already!! Unrealistic expectations about parenthood, inability to accept infertility and some women's ignorance of their fertility window have caused a great deal of suffering. Leave a legacy of deeds, not seeds!
Maria, excellent concerns! Though, some might believe that the primary deed, in life, is completing a pregnancy. Would you also be in favor of encouraging vasectomies? ..Maurice.
With the high costs of invitro fertilization (IVF), loan companies have developed to provide families with the needed money to accomplish the family's goal. And as written in the article in Slate, fertility doctors may be taking "kickbacks" from the loan companies for referring families to them. Read the article at the above link and return to present your views. ..Maurice.
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