Thursday, November 13, 2008

Biology and family dynamics blur

In a slightly irreverent telling of the scientific and medical news, William Slateren writes in Slate.com about "another guy got his mother-in-law pregnant." No, it's not a made-for-tv, sordid interfamily love triangle.

When a "mother" was unable to bear her own child because she had had a hysterectomy, the woman and her husband had her egg fertilized with his sperm (so far, so good), and then the embryo was implanted in the woman's mother. Yes, the baby's grandmother was the surrogate.

For quite a few years, assisted reproduction, surrogacy, and the peeling apart of maternity have been taking various twists and turns. As usual, the law has had to catch up with people's family arrangements. In many cases, the law isn't even in the rear-view mirror yet.

(Photo by Jose Miguel Serrano; used by permission.)

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