Source: Genetic Literacy Project
There was a time when a man could anonymously donate sperm to a couple or woman trying to conceive and everyone could be reasonably sure it would remain a secret. But thanks to home DNA test kits and the internet, those days are over.
Men and women who didn’t know they were conceived with a sperm donor are unexpectedly turning up the family secret when they take DNA tests for fun, for genealogy research or other reasons.
Source: The Sun
Medics plan to use the method on two women who risk passing on genetic diseases to their kids. The unnamed pair have a mutation that leads to myoclonic epilepsy. The ailment hits one in 100,000 people, causing spasms that see lost muscle control, weakness, deafness, dementia and often death. In the treatment, once the mum’s egg is fertilised, the cell nucleus with the bulk of her and the dad’s genetic material is removed. The mutation is left behind, as it only occurs in the mitochondrial DNA which is not present in the nucleus.
Source: The Guardian
I had children in my teens and became a grandmother two decades ago. I’ve always thought how lucky I was to get pregnant so easily, and how heartbreaking it is for people who can’t. I liked the idea of being a surrogate, but my husband wasn’t keen. By 2012, we had divorced, and I’d taken care of my parents and older brother, who sadly passed away. I’d turned 50 and thought, if I’m going to do this, it needs to be now.
Source: Phnom Penh Post
Just half of an estimated dozen applications by parents trying to prove their DNA link to their baby born via a Cambodian surrogate have so far been approved by the Phnom Penh Municipal court, officials said yesterday.
Following an outright ban on the fraught practice of commercial surrogacy in Cambodia, where hundreds of babies are estimated to have been born to foreign couples, the Kingdom laid out guidelines in July last year, requiring intended parents to get DNA tests, have their paternity status verified by the courts and apply for exit visas through their embassies in order to legally take their babies home.
Source: HuffPost UK
A current family law case in the US has caught the media’s attention. It’s one which is difficult, emotional and demands a solution. A gay married couple is suing the US government after the birth of their twins. One twin was conceived with the sperm of one father (a US citizen) and the other was conceived with the sperm of the other father (an Israeli citizen). The birth of the twins took place in Canada (where the fathers were married), and both fathers were listed on each both certificate.
Source: Mummyish
Imagine having 22 biological children – it’s okay if you just ran away screaming, I did a little bit. Now imagine that you don’t have to actually take care of any of them – yeah, that’s better. Egg donors aren’t technically parents, meaning they don’t carry, birth, or raise the kids they help create. But their contributions make so many dreams come true.
For some people having a big family is a dream, but some simply can’t have children. That is where the Van Der Worp sisters come in. They are some pretty incredible egg donors. Between the two sisters, they have 22 biological kids. Samara has her own son, but other than that, she has 9 other children that are only hers through DNA. Her sister Sarah has 12 – with one more on the way. The two have given the ultimate gift to families who are struggling with infertility.
Source: The Daily Beast
A New York state man who supplied his sperm for a lesbian couple’s at-home insemination was denied a paternity test by a state appeals court last week, possibly ending his battle for parental rights over the now 3-year-old girl who was born as a result of his donation.
