In search of his father

“ I call myself an only child, but I could very well be one of many siblings. I could be predisposed to some potentially devastating disease. Because I do not know what my father looks like, I could never recognise him in a crowd of people . I am sometimes overwhelmed by the infinite possibilities, by the reality that my father could be any where : in the neighbouring lane of traffic on a Friday during rush hour, behind me in line at the bank or the pharmacy ……. I am sometimes at such a petrifying loss for words or emotions that make sense that I can only feel astonished by the fact he could be any one”. , so wrote Mr. Colton Wooten  in his article in  the International Herald Tribune dated 29th June, 2011  enititled “ A plea to sperm donors from a son” .. He tells us that it was at the age of 5 that his mother divulged to him that he was born through artificial insemination and that he, born in 1992, did not think about that until 2006 when his teacher assigned to his class a genealogy project for which the students were supposed to research family history and create a family tree to share with the class. He describes how he had to cope with different situations when questioned about his father and ends his write-up saying

Colton Wooten does not find fault his mom when she, closing on her 40s, found herself unmarried and childless and opted to have a child through artificial insemination. She had arranged a consultation at the University of North Carolina Fertility Centre in early 1992. During the visits that followed, she examined the profiles of the sperm bank's donors , compared favourable traits and credentials and picked up one. He adds that he had visited the same centre hoping to find out at least the name of his father but was told that no files were saved for anonymous fathers for anonymous donors and no information could be given to him. He adds he understands the reasons behind keeping sperm donation anonymous “And yet the void that many children and young adults born from artificial insemination experience from simply not knowing transcends reason”. What he argues is that such babies should have the right to know who their donors are.

Reacting to Colton Wooten’s article, Ms Leah Leeder from Israel wrote how she, who is a single mother by choice of a beautiful two year old daughter, was moved by his article which reminded her that she should prepare herself for the day when her daughter starts asking her questions about her so called biological father.

One is in fact bewildered while coming to know that the artificial insemination widely used in the past for animal reproduction is now being applied in the case of human beings as well .It is true that the giant leap in the filed of science and technology has afforded us with numerous comforts and facilities and made our lives easier than ever. One, however, very often wonders whether Science alone can give us happiness and peace of mind. Here comes the role of ethics which act as a safety valve in our lives. It has to be admitted that there are several questions science fails to  answer.

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