Children - the new commodity

A celebrity gay couple announced this week their intention of purchasing eggs from a female 'donor', a fashion model of extraordinary good looks (if not intelligence). Their aim is not surprisingly to acquire a child, ostensibly through the collaboration, and in vitro insemination, of a surrogate mother.

It hasn't been disclosed which of the two males will be providing the semen required to make this child. Which really doesn't seem to bother the parties involved, as both father and co-father both appear more than ready to welcome the new citizen, once conception, pregnancy and delivery have all transpired successfully.

I find nothing questionable about this couple's desire to procreate, and I do not doubt their sincerity or capacity in wanting to support, love and care for this baby-to-be. What I do find objectionable is this:

NO RIGHT TO KNOW 'MUMMY'

a) This boy or girl will enter life without any guarantee whatsoever that he or she will ever know who its mother is. The celebrity couple in question will have a hard time in achieving the natural bonding that normally occurs between biological mother and her child, since a divorce will already have taken place prior to day the baby is handed over to the new caregivers.

The female supermodel who will very likely consent to selling her eggs to the gay couple, will almost certainly never be involved in the day-to-day upbringing of her child. I say her child, as it is a scientific fact that her DNA will forever and indelibly be transferred to this baby. He or she may even inherit some of the supermodel's facial characteristics, beauty, that is, or may even come to be the spitting image of this purveyor of eggs.

But courtesy of Norwegian laws and the shortsightedness of adults, this girl or boy will be cut off from the possibility of bonding with the undeniable source of much of his or her exterior or personality. Even as an adolescent or adult, the question will very likely remain unanswered: Who is she? Who exactly is the woman who sold her eggs to my fathers? Who is this person whose DNA I carry in me? Does she even care?

We know from experience, research and a host of cases involving adoptees that this question of identity is of paramount importance to anyone who walks this earth. Who's right is it to deny designer babies their chance to know their mothers or fathers?

MONEY MATTERS MORE (THAN GOOD MORALS)

b) Our gay couple in question have decided to solicit a female of extraordinary beauty to be a partner in their endeavour. The supermodel will undergo a surgical procedure in which fertile, healthy eggs are removed from her uterus, subsequently to be handed over to medical personel, and – finally – implanted into the womb of a surrogate mother, who will deliver the child in the safe and medically competent company of trained doctors and nurses in a maternity clinic.

In return for their services, both young women will very likely receive sizeable sums of money. In all likelihood, the supermodel will be the winner here, as she possesses the required and much coveted characteristic: external beaty. Please take into account also her supermodel status and the beauty potential of her baby, and you will understand why these eggs will, indeed, be pricey.

Their choice reveals a trend that is becoming increasingly apparent. As technology reaches new levels of complexity, it offers us possibilities virtually no one could conceive a mere decade or two ago. Not only are we now capable of weeding out from society unwanted potential members, such as babies carrying Down's Syndrome, through the application of new, advanced ultrasound technology.

We are also able to (almost) fully preplan our progeny. With the willing hands of hospital staff there to aid us, we can determine in advance the sex of our babies, plus many other vital hereditary traits. And who doesn't want a superintelligent child? Who would possibly decline any offer that guarantees the prospect of a child that will in no way be a liability to society (through any form of disability), but that will satisfy any parental whim or preference?

HIGH-TECH COMMODITY

Babies are fast becoming commodities in high-tech Western civilization, and understandably so: as populations are noticeably declining through widespread and long-term abortion policies, we, after all, must make sure that those who survive will have a fighting chance in this race for the survival of the fittest?

Our gay celebrity couple will most likely get what they want. And, still, what they get may very well not at all grow up to become what they would like it to be. Beauty, it seems, is fleeting, but the very likely consequences of human frailty and the influences of contemporary cultural decay are not.