IVF Mothers Destroy British Fatherhood

Mothers having IVF in the UK may soon be able to name anybody as the second parent to their baby. It need not be the man who donated genetic material: it need not even be a man at all. Needless to say, the Daily Mail is outraged. Traditional family values, such as the right to a part in a child’s life based on nothing more than the ability to produce sperm, are being attacked! Bit by bit, timeless values are being replaced by queer, progressive notions: the most unsettling being the idea that the most suitable second parent to a child is the one selected by the mother, on whatever loony, unexamined grounds she considers to be correct. Horror of horrors! She might select her ‘best friend’! We can only imagine the hellish life of the offspring, raised in a freakish world of girls’ nights in, popcorn, and movies starring Colin Firth. What kind of monster would emerge from this? We can only imagine, tremblingly.

The Daily Mail, conscientious member of society that it is, raises the spectre of these female second parents fighting for visitation rights and being chased for support payments when their ‘fragile’ relationship with the birth mother breaks down. And I agree with the Daily Mail: these relationships are bound to be exceedingly fragile, compared to the normal, natural, healthy equivalent. After all, on the one hand, we have a woman who chose to undergo all the complication and difficulties of IVF, and subsequently defied a huge social stigma by naming a woman as the best co-parent. On the other hand, we have a man and a woman who had unprotected sex. I know which seems more fragile to me! The weird one!

Those objecting to all this have a number of solid, well-reasoned arguments, which I think deserve a little consideration. To give you a quick précis: ‘true genetic identity’, ‘biological heritage’, and ‘family values’. I think we all know exactly what those things are, and why they matter so much in our hearts. And on the other hand, what the hell IS all this stuff about responsible adults deciding on an individual basis what is best for their family, having given the matter careful consideration and committed to it on a mutual, legal binding basis? Personally, that does nothing whatsoever for me.