A couple from Port Hope, Canada is suing their sperm donor after finding out he had schizophrenia and a criminal record.
Though no one should be discriminated based on their biological makeup, the couple has every reason to be upset.
Angela Collins and Margaret Elizabeth Hanson were originally told by their sperm bank, Xytex Corporation, that their chosen sperm donor was a healthy student in neuroscience engineering working toward a Ph.D. with an IQ of 160. In 2007, the couple happily welcomed the birth of ?their son.
Through the years, they remained in contact with the staff at Xytex. But in 2014, Collins and Hanson received emails revealing the identity of their sperm ?donor.
They soon got in touch with other families that used the same sperm donor.
Together, they discovered through Facebook and YouTube that the donor, James Christian Aggeles, was not the high-IQ, Ph.D. student that Xytex had described.
Instead, Aggeles was a college dropout, diagnosed with schizophrenia and had been arrested for burglary.
This discovery led Collins and Hanson to file a lawsuit against Xytex on multiple counts. They also wanted further compensation for their son’s future ?medical care.
I think this is a brave and reasonable request, given the unfortunate circumstances. The realization of a lie about the sperm donor would put any parent in an awkward position — although a person loves his or her child, the child also isn’t particularly what this person bargained for.
While on one hand it seems justified to be upset for being lied to and deceived, on the other, it shouldn’t make one love his or her child any less.
This awkward contradiction between love for one’s child and one’s own biological expectations for a child makes the deception from the sperm bank an easy thing to sweep under ?the rug.
After all, once the child’s been born, the parents are committed to loving their child. If so, then it shouldn’t matter whether the sperm donor was a high-IQ Ph.D. student or not. People love their children for who they are, which includes their ?biological composition.
Our conception of parental love would easily make the background of the sperm ?donor a dismissible question.
However, this is obviously something that should not be dismissed. In choosing sperm donors and choosing to raise a child, parents should have a right to make an informed decision.
Not only would their choice drastically affect their own lives, it would also affect the life of their ?child-to-be.
If their child is genetically predisposed to conditions that would require additional medical attention, they should have a right to know.
They should not let the ideals of unconditional love and support undermine their right to choose for themselves and the family they want.
nywu@indiana.edu
