No, we're not headed for a world of designer babies. Nah. We're already there. From the Washington Times, July 19:
Want your baby to resemble your favorite celebrity? A Los Angeles sperm bank is already one step ahead....
California Cryobank, a clinic that has been in the fertility business for more than 30 years, has launched a celebrity-inspired service called "Donor Look-A-Like," which allows clients to search for potential donors who mirror certain "actors, athletes, musicians, or anyone else famous enough to be found on the Web."
The list includes performers such as Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks, Russell Crowe and Justin Timberlake.... Athletes on the list include golfer Tiger Woods, tennis player Andy Roddick... quarterback Tony Romo and basketball player Jason Williams....
But, in an era when sex-selection abortion, in utero genetic manipulation and other techniques are raising concerns about a society that engineers and custom-designs children, Mr. Brown denied that his sperm bank's service has anything in common with such "Brave New World" practices....
"This is not a designer baby factory," he said. "We want to humanize the experience because we can't show what the donor actually looks like."...
The service has been wildly popular among those searching for sperm donors, causing traffic to the clinic's site to increase 400%. There is no additional fee for the "Donor Look-A-Like" service.
The service offers a wide range of potential celebrities.... Psycho star Anthony Perkins... Mark Steyn... Jesse James.
CA law requires that sperm donors be anonymous....
Mr. Brown said genetics is difficult to "anticipate," so the look-alike service is not guaranteed....
Sperm donor applicants must go through a rigorous application process, which includes testing for STDs and genetic disorders. All donors are required to be 5 feet, 9 inches or taller and have a university degree. The application process lasts 6 to 9 months, and only 1% of applicants are accepted. There are between 100 and 150 active donors.
Once an anonymous donor has been accepted, staff members decide which celebrity he resembles most closely....
According to the Cryobank website, "Donor Look-a-Likes are judged to be the best of our subjective abilities. Whenever possible, more than one celebrity is listed to give you a better general sense of what the donor looks like.
"At times, two or more celebrities listed for a single donor may not necessarily resemble each other. In these cases, consider the fact that many people look like both their parents, without their parents actually looking like each other."
[HT: Laura Loo; photo via People]
Comments:
I'm speechless.....
Posted by: RSD at July 20, 2010 1:20 PMThis is insane! It's seeing children as possessions and not people.
Posted by: Bethany at July 20, 2010 1:35 PMWhy should anything surprise any longer?
Posted by: bill at July 20, 2010 1:50 PMWhat about these men who are "donating" their sperm? doesn't it even bother them that they have kids out there they may never know? I feel the same about women that "donate" eggs! I can't imagine my baby out there in the world and I don't even know the family raising her! It boggles my mind that this wouldn't bother these fathers.
Posted by: Sydney M. at July 20, 2010 6:43 PMCelebrity worship meets the objectification of children. Scary.
Some of these sperm donors, I hear, have literally dozens of kids. How would you like to know you have siblings numbering in the double-digits that you'll never meet?
Posted by: Ashley Herzog at July 20, 2010 9:10 PMIck... my mom tried to talk me into doing egg donation when I was younger... creeped me out. I believe her comment was that I needed to "share the wealth"....
Posted by: Elisabeth at July 20, 2010 9:13 PMI heard that egg donation is rather painful. Is that true?
Posted by: phillymiss at July 21, 2010 8:54 AMWhat a marketing scam. No doubt, these parents are setting themselves up for disappointment. Hollywood people are nuts.
Posted by: Janet at July 21, 2010 11:07 AMI want to know if they will give you a gift certificate to get Jr. some plastic surgery, since many celebrities have had work done. Do you want Tom Cruise before or after all the dental work? And who's nose will your child have? The good looking donor's, or his grandma's giant beak? What if Grandpa Charlie had a unibrow?
What's going to happen when unknown siblings start reproducing? You think Luke & Leia kissing was gross, imagine how a couple will feel when they find out they're siblings after they've been having sex? Ewww.
Posted by: ninek at July 21, 2010 11:52 AMWhat about these men who are "donating" their sperm? doesn't it even bother them that they have kids out there they may never know? I feel the same about women that "donate" eggs! I can't imagine my baby out there in the world and I don't even know the family raising her! It boggles my mind that this wouldn't bother these fathers.
Posted by: Sydney M. at July 20, 2010 6:43 PM
I don't think sperm donors think of these children as "their kids"
Posted by: Hal at July 21, 2010 6:02 PM
I don't think sperm donors think of these children as "their kids"
Posted by: Hal at July 21, 2010 6:02 PM
Did you pass science class?
Their sperm = their kids. Idiot.
Posted by: hippie at July 24, 2010 9:58 PM