The Prospect of Unisex Conception

Our society is in the throes of a debate now about whether every child deserves a mother and a father to raise them. The debate is about to get more difficult, as science makes possible conception without a father.

The researchers said they had already produced early sperm cells from bone-marrow tissue taken from men. They believe the findings show that it may be possible to restore fertility to men who cannot naturally produce their own sperm.

But the results also raise the prospect of being able to take bone-marrow tissue from women and coaxing the stem cells within the female tissue to develop into sperm cells, said Professor Karim Nayernia of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Creating sperm from women would mean they would only be able to produce daughters because the Y chromosome of male sperm would still be needed to produce sons. The latest research brings the prospect of female-only conception a step closer.

Of course, this is unlikely to remain a female monopoly for long. Eventually, either it will be possible to produce eggs from stem cells as well, or at worst it will be possible to buy female eggs on the open market and replace the nucleus with that of a male sperm. Thus taking women out of the equation.

Even though I have known this was coming for a while (we sci fi fans hear about this stuff far in advance of "normal" people) it still bothers me. There will no doubt be uses I would accept (such as using the stem cells of a sister to replace the sperm of her brother who died before he could concieve with his wife) and uses that I will not find it hard to accept. I am honestly not sure where the line lies in this case and where we are crossing it.