Daval

Worries After 30 Lesbians Impregnated by the Same Man

Unregulated sperm donation is leading to unusual situations in which the children of lesbians are mixing socially — creating a risk of incest.

One of South Australia's foremost experts in reproductive technology - Andrew Dutney - said that in one reported case, about 30 lesbians were impregnated by sperm from one man, the Advertiser reported.

The mothers then organised picnics with all the children, raising the fear they might socialise with their half-siblings without realising they were related.

In another case, a man's sperm was used to produce 29 children, most of whom were living in Adelaide.

They did not know who their half-siblings are, raising concerns that in a "big country town" like Adelaide, they could accidentally commit incest.

In South Australia it has become standard practice to identify sperm donors, which has put men off donating through reproductive clinics.

Fertility treatments do not generally cater to homosexuals, because the law says it is only for infertile couples or those at risk of transmitting a serious defect.

These factors combine to push many people wanting children to seek help elsewhere — either through "turkey basters" or casual sex with friends or willing participants found online.

Dr Dutney, the former chairman of the SA Council on Reproductive Technology and Associate Professor of Theology at Flinders University, said the SA regulations were at fault and should be repealed altogether, leaving reproductive medical units to comply with the national ethical guidelines.

He cited the example of the "very generous" sperm donor to emphasise that when people were excluded from access to reproductive technology, it forced them to go it alone, and have children outside the normal system.

Those children were born about a decade ago, meaning they will be reaching adolescence in the next few years.

"The effect of our regulations here in SA is that they produce unregulated donor conception, whereas a system with a lighter touch would bring a whole lot more parents and children into the light," Assoc Prof Dutney said.

"The situation at the moment is that ... by adhering to the SA legislation, clinics have to be in breach of the national code.

"Under SA's legislation, anonymity is guaranteed while under the national code of ethics, the child's access to knowledge has to be provided."

Source

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OK, when I first saw the title of this article I just had to laugh. But there really seems to be a valid concern here - "The mothers then organised picnics with all the children, raising the fear they might socialise with their half-siblings without realising they were related."

I wonder if this sort of thing happens here as well? It must. Do they tell the parents? I guess they must have if this article exists.

Crazy stuff.

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skizziks

Comedy ensues.

dlish

gotta love those aussies eh?

its a valid point that he bring up though. its the same circle at the end of the day. and if anyone here has been to adelaide they'd know that its an extremely small city. lovely place, lovely people, but i can see this actually happening.

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The Faba

I was going to find this guy and congratulate him... then I read it was through a clinic. That's much less impressive.

genuinegirly

A valid concern. Hopefully they deal with the situation properly. I'd want to keep a record of a biological father, if nothing more than to have an idea about family medical history. It'd be nice to know if my child was prone to disease. I can see why it would become an even greater concern as the child entered reproductive age.

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lotsofmagnets

adelaide: the new hobart

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inBOIL

So the parents know which of their children share fathers, then allow these children to mingle without telling them they're related? Sounds more like bad parenting than bad policy.

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Charlatan

Aren't all Aussies rather inbred?



(I kid)

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ASU2003

Adelaide isn't a small city at all. It's not like there are 500 people in the whole city. There are 1.1 million people living in the area and suburbs.

If they are worried about mating with their half-siblings, I would be available.

percy

I think yeah. It started in England way back when and then King someone or another deported them all to Aussieland for fear the kissing cousins would somehow gain power one day and turn the lawns of all the castles into trailer parks.

Pretty much how things stand today

dlish

lets do some numbers

1 million people in adelaide

lets say 10% of all people aree gay

thats 100,000 gays in adelaide. half of them are females = 50,000

lets say half are active in the gay community = 25,000

out of those 25,000 they are all couples. that makes it 12,500 lesbian couples in adelaide.

NOW look at the possibility that 30 kids meet. its quite feasible to think that there may be a problem?

adelaide is an extremely small city. compared to the places ive been and the cities ive seen, adelaide is a small city.

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I always sign my facebook comments with ()()===========(}. Does that make me gay?
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ASU2003

I still think it's a longshot. Are all the kids around the same age? That might improve the odds, but still there are a lot of school-age kids to pick from. It might be a better chance then winning the lottery, but it's still a bet I would make.

If it was in someplace like Coober Pedy, that might be considered a small city. But I've been to places where you know everyone because there are less than 100 people in the city. That's what I would consider to be small. Adelaide is pretty spread out too, with lots of suburbs and other people they could meet.

An even if they did meet, hook-up (with the opposite gender), and have a kid, they are still just half-siblings. They would only have one Grandpa, but I don't believe the genetics are as effected. But I could be wrong on that.

Fremen

The whole world is inbred! We don't have any new genetic material to work with!

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Baraka_Guru

This stat puts the percentage of lesbians in the population at 0.8%. The numbers are hard to measure for various reasons, but I think stating that 10% of a population is gay is extremely high. Then consider the issue of gays and lesbians tending to migrate to larger cities where they have a better time at being themselves (i.e. more acceptance and larger LGBT communities).

I think you'd be lucky to have 1,000 lesbian couples in Adelaide. This makes the community even smaller than you stated. Maybe it's a bigger problem than you think?

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MoonDog

Well, I would be more concerned if the recipients were mostly from the same social circles. Say the samg GLBT club.

JStrider

it does say "The mothers then organised picnics with all the children"

so it sounds like they all hang out together...

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MoonDog

Yes, but I was referring to the Adelaide case...poorly, I admit

Amaras

Man, it they did inbreed, Australia would end up with a bunch of kids looking like Prince Charles.

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