A heartbreaking story ran today in the Daily Mail in the UK about the feelings of children conceived in a test tube with a sperm donor instead of through a loving union.
Again, like we wrote about this week, there are severe consequences of when a baby is conceived by other means rather than the natural union, preferably a marital one, of man and woman.
The UK story talks to a number of children conceived with the help of a sperm donor and a new study, the first of its kind, which reveals how sperm donor children feel about how they were conceived and how they view their lives now.
The study says that the children often feel confusion, isolation and hurt, even more so than those children who were adopted. Here’s a sample of what these children said of their conception:
“Adoption is very different – not only can you usually find your real parents, but also you don’t have to cope with the psychological effects of knowing you were conceived in a test tube. That’s unsettling and weird. Being a sperm donor child makes you question everything about your humanity. I can honestly say that no matter how desperate I might be for a child, I’d never use a sperm donor. I wouldn’t condemn any child to grow up as I did.”
“He’s my father, and I have no idea who he is. I think it would be easier if I was the product of a one-night stand – at least then there would have been a connection between two people.”
“My brother and I were told that we were conceived using donor sperm. We were shell-shocked, and it has affected me to this day…All that time I’d been growing up with an image in my head which was one big lie. That had a huge impact on me.”
“I’m not a scientific experiment, I’m a person, yet I don’t know half of my identity. I have my mum’s hair and eyes, but the rest of me is a mystery.”
Another thing to consider is that many times, a particular sperm donor donates more than once so it’s likely that these children have half-siblings that will never know. And what if they end up dating or marrying one of them? They may never know.
Add this to already long list of reasons why the Catholic Church forbids conceiving a child outside of a marital union.
