I've thought about this a bit for a long time, just wondering what anybody else thought... Do you think that there might be a huge increase in accidental inbreeding of humans due to things like sperm and egg donation, adoptions and other situations in which a person might not know who either one or both parents is?

I realize that not knowing who your true parents are is not a new thing... I'm sure women have been cheating on their husbands since the beginning of time, and the men have been out there "spreading their seed"... but it seems to be a big problem now, with one woman having 3,4 or 5 kids all with different dads, and those dads have 3,4,5 kids with God knows who else... combine that with more access to IVF using donated genetic material (and those same donors having kids of their own at the same time)... and then there's all these kids in the foster care system that may not have any idea who either parent really is... just seems like a disaster to me. What do you think?

Hi passmeby,

I think you have a very valid point.

I personally don't know much about IVF but I do know a few people who have used this method to conceive a much wanted child.

One was successful three times over ,whilst the other ,having spent a vast amount of money wasn't and remained childless, which is a real blow for them.

I know that when you have IVF the identity of the sperm donor is confidential,which remains this way for the expectant mother... not knowing the donor,also the donor has no knowledge that his sperm has been used.

Therefore it would be impossible to trace either party.

I understand that the sperm bank does have a record of such donors, which is covered by the law of ethics, this would prevent them from conveying any information to either party.

However, I would imagine any female applying for this treatment,would have several forms to fill out, which would then be double checked by a senior consultant, before any treatment was agreed upon.

I suspect at this time the details of the applicant would be crossed checked with computor records of donors, making sure that this does not happen.

That's not to say that it hasn't... for what ever reason.

How many times have each of us been somewhere and thought we've seen someone we know, only to discover that in fact it was someone who just looked like the person we know.


MAKES YOU THINK, DOESN'T IT...

I think there is a lot less today than 100 years ago when there was only small towns of 1000 or less and family get togethers were considered the dating pool. Or you only had normally the choice of a few other family groups.

With the increase in society, the mobile aspect of society and the large size of cities today, the chances of anything accidental is almost none.

I thought about what you said, Fr Chuck, about this topic from a historic view. Indeed, there was probably more closer relatives getting together back then, probably mostly because people just didn't travel and there was no real "dating scene".

But anyway, that sort of inbreeding wasn't acccidental, they knew what they were doing. I'm just thinking about a much greater risk of accidental inbreeding. I'm trying to research how big of a problem this might be but it's a tough subject to research.

What I keep thinking is, mothers with children with multiple men, and those same fathers of her kids have other kids with a few other women. So, these kids have no clue that they're half-brothers/sisters, maybe they all live within a few blocks of each other, go to the same school... it just boggles my mind. That's one huge difference between the present and past... while I'm sure it happened back then too, soooo many women are moms of multiple kids by multiple fathers. Just speaking of relatively recent US history, it was tradition to get married, then have kids and STAY married. That's what most people did. Nowadays, marriage just isn't looked at as the first step anymore. It's become commonplace for a woman to remain single and have kids with possibly a few different guys. And those guys are out there having kids with other women...

I can't imagine the feeling of not knowing who my parents are or if I have any other siblings I don't know about.



It's really a scary situation, IMO. Definitely something I'd like to see researched and presented to the public, sounds like a good topic for 20/20.

I have thought about this, and I think there is a valid point to be made.

When there are no infertility problems, and women choose to have multiple babies with as many fathers, and men choose to have multiple children with as many women, what does that say about not only genetics, but society as a whole.

Does it create a problem other than the burden on all concerned, including taxpayers, as far as chances of mating with an unknown sibling?

And what of siblings mating who carry a gene for some disease, and that too increases the chances of some sort of disease or condition as a result.

And what of long term consequences of that sort of lifestyle. And is it really worth knowing the results because we cannot do anything to stop it anyway?

Short of legalizing law makers to prohibit by force, what would be the purpose of knowing that you married your half sister. How could you have some sort of registry that wouldn't be invasive to have DNA samples from all mothers, with a data base to cross-reference. And with that information, would the 'state' then be able to force abortion, or to force disclosure?

Smacks more of a big brother thing to me really when you think about it.

That we know the information, or can prove the information that you suggest, does not likely meet with any sort of workable conclusion as to the genetics and its importance on this issue.

I know that part of the reason you have to get a marriage LICENSE to get married in most states is so that they CAN check to make sure you aren't marrying a biological relative accidentally, mostly due to adoption.

While the RECORDS are confidential, that doesn't mean there are NOT records, and that they aren't used to prevent marriage in the case of too close a biological relationship.

The PROBLEM, it seems to me, is that too many people think it's okay to have kids out of wedlock.

The PROBLEM, it seems to me, is that too many people think it's okay to have kids out of wedlock.

I totally agree! It's amazing how this has become so accepted. It's gone from being "absolute shame" to "no big deal" in no time!

Jake and Synnen, I enjoyed your posts. Thanks for the input. I know, I think about some abstract stuff sometimes!

Passmeby--not sure on egg/sperm donors, no.

One would assume, though, that the reason they have to keep records is so that the state can check to make sure that two people biologically related do not marry.

Of course--the problem here is that too many people hook up without the benefit of marriage, so it doesn't matter if the state DOES have access to those records--it's too late by the time half the couples out there get married.