Leon
25-06-2002, 09:01
Not, spot the self irghteous bigotry..
A lifetime of psycholoigcal difficulites, my arse
***
The first online sperm donor service for lesbians in Britain, and possibly the world, will be launched next month, its founders say.
The website mannotincluded.com will match sperm donors with lesbian couples wishing to have children, eliminating the difficulties of using an identified donor or dealing with fertility clinics reluctant to help same-sex couples.
But critics have attacked the plan, with one group calling the idea of artificial insemination for lesbian couples "revolting."
"I have believed for a long time that same-sex couples have a fundamental right to have children," said mannotincluded founder John Gonzalez in a statement on Monday.
"This right has been denied through bureaucracy and prejudice for too long. It is now time to redress the balance so that lesbian couples are able to bring children into a loving, caring and happy environment."
The move was welcomed by British gay rights group Outrage.
"It seems a very practical solution to an existing problem," said Outrage press officer David Allison.
"A lot of lesbians want to have children, especially those in long-term relationships. Up to now, any lesbians who wanted children have had to rely on friends -- gay men -- to provide them with the necessary semen to enable procreation."
He added resorting to an identified donor sometimes led to legal problems with the donor being asked to pay child support.
But opponents have slammed the idea of allowing lesbian couples to have children.
"It's revolting! Honestly these are designer babies for alternative lifestyles," said Lynette Burrows, a member of the Family Education Trust, a non-political organisations on matters affecting the family.
"It's a wicked and selfish idea. They know they are subjecting the child to a lifetime of psychological difficulties starting with having two mothers -- which they know is not possible -- and no father and what their peers are going to say about that abnormal situation."
Gonzalez told Reuters it made no difference whether the child was brought up by a lesbian couple or a heterosexual one.
"I don't think it makes any difference at all provided that the child comes to a happy, loving, caring environment," he said.
SPERM ONLINE
The company allows women to state their preferred race, eye colour, height and weight of donors over the internet, Gonzalez said, but the donor and the recipient couples will never meet.
Men will donate their sperm anonymously at clinics. After being screened for diseases, it will be sent to the lesbian couples for "home insemination".
But sperm donors will be barred from fathering too many children through the site.
Mannotincluded does not store sperm, but provides fresh samples, which takes it outside the remit of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
Gonzalez said if a heterosexual couple contacted the website, they would look at the request, but he emphasised the service was targeting lesbians.
The firm said it would establish partnerships in other countries to provide a world-wide service.
The Health Ministry declined to comment.
British law allows any woman to have artificial insemination, as long as certain conditions pertaining to the child's welfare are fulfilled, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology authority said.
There is no specific provision for lesbians.
Mannotincluded estimated there were more than 250,000 lesbian couples in Britain but only a very small percentage were responsible for bringing up their own children
A lifetime of psycholoigcal difficulites, my arse
***
The first online sperm donor service for lesbians in Britain, and possibly the world, will be launched next month, its founders say.
The website mannotincluded.com will match sperm donors with lesbian couples wishing to have children, eliminating the difficulties of using an identified donor or dealing with fertility clinics reluctant to help same-sex couples.
But critics have attacked the plan, with one group calling the idea of artificial insemination for lesbian couples "revolting."
"I have believed for a long time that same-sex couples have a fundamental right to have children," said mannotincluded founder John Gonzalez in a statement on Monday.
"This right has been denied through bureaucracy and prejudice for too long. It is now time to redress the balance so that lesbian couples are able to bring children into a loving, caring and happy environment."
The move was welcomed by British gay rights group Outrage.
"It seems a very practical solution to an existing problem," said Outrage press officer David Allison.
"A lot of lesbians want to have children, especially those in long-term relationships. Up to now, any lesbians who wanted children have had to rely on friends -- gay men -- to provide them with the necessary semen to enable procreation."
He added resorting to an identified donor sometimes led to legal problems with the donor being asked to pay child support.
But opponents have slammed the idea of allowing lesbian couples to have children.
"It's revolting! Honestly these are designer babies for alternative lifestyles," said Lynette Burrows, a member of the Family Education Trust, a non-political organisations on matters affecting the family.
"It's a wicked and selfish idea. They know they are subjecting the child to a lifetime of psychological difficulties starting with having two mothers -- which they know is not possible -- and no father and what their peers are going to say about that abnormal situation."
Gonzalez told Reuters it made no difference whether the child was brought up by a lesbian couple or a heterosexual one.
"I don't think it makes any difference at all provided that the child comes to a happy, loving, caring environment," he said.
SPERM ONLINE
The company allows women to state their preferred race, eye colour, height and weight of donors over the internet, Gonzalez said, but the donor and the recipient couples will never meet.
Men will donate their sperm anonymously at clinics. After being screened for diseases, it will be sent to the lesbian couples for "home insemination".
But sperm donors will be barred from fathering too many children through the site.
Mannotincluded does not store sperm, but provides fresh samples, which takes it outside the remit of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
Gonzalez said if a heterosexual couple contacted the website, they would look at the request, but he emphasised the service was targeting lesbians.
The firm said it would establish partnerships in other countries to provide a world-wide service.
The Health Ministry declined to comment.
British law allows any woman to have artificial insemination, as long as certain conditions pertaining to the child's welfare are fulfilled, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology authority said.
There is no specific provision for lesbians.
Mannotincluded estimated there were more than 250,000 lesbian couples in Britain but only a very small percentage were responsible for bringing up their own children