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Dedicated to stopping genetic engineering of human beings, and preserving individual conception rights for all people. All people should be created equal, by the union of a woman and a man.

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The Egg and Sperm - Civil Union Compromise

"Equal protections, but no genetically engineered conceptions." In other words, we would federally recognize same-sex civil unions that do not grant conception rights, and prohibit all forms of conception that do not join a man and a woman's sperm and egg. Both sides of the marriage debate would achieve their stated goals, with one side preserving marriage, and the other side gaining federal equal protections. Together, we call on Congress to:
1) Stop genetic engineering by limiting conception of children to the union of a man and a woman's sperm and egg.
2) Federally recognize state civil unions that are exactly like marriages but do not grant conception rights.
3) Affirm in federal law the right of all marriages to conceive children together using their own gametes.
Comments on the compromise

Is same-sex conception possible?

Yes, researchers are working on methods using genetically engineered stem cells to produce sperm from a woman and eggs from a man. They have already created a mouse named Kaguya in 2004 that has two mothers and no father. Scientists created her in Japan in 2004, combining one mouse's egg with another mouse's genetically modified egg. No sperm was used.

To create her, the scientists created over 450 embryos, implanted 371, and 10 mice were born alive. Kaguya was the only mouse that came out healthy enough to survive to adulthood, the others all died from genetic defects.

Read more about Kaguya here.

This is much riskier than IVF, which is still natural egg and sperm conception, and even cloning, because same-sex conception requires changing the DNA of one of the partners and seeing if it works. Trying this in humans would be completely unethical and unnecessary and waste our resources at a time when people still cannot get basic health care. Research should be stopped.

Read about the ethics of same-sex conception here, here, and here.

Incredibly, however, it is currently legal, and there are people who feel same-sex couples not only have the right to attempt to conceive children together, but that we have an obligation to continue to fund research to make it "safe and affordable" for them. One New Jersey researcher quoted in GayCityNews said he expects to see children come from stem cell derived gametes in "three to five years" if the research continues at the present pace! (That article has been removed from their site, but it's archived on the web.archive.org site.) Another researcher in Britian working on stem cell derived gametes also said it "should take around three to five years of experiments."

They are proceeding recklessly, spending freely, putting children at risk, expoiting same-sex couples, and opening the door to a Brave New World of genetic engineering and manufactured children.

To protect children, as well as protect everyone's natural conception rights and preserve human dignity, we need a law that says children can only be conceived by the union of a woman's egg and a man's sperm. Conceiving children together should not be a right of same-sex couples. Same-sex couples should have all of the other rights of marriage in the form of civil unions. Marriages should continue to guarantee conception rights using the couples own gametes.

Frequently asked questions:

What about adoption and other ways that same-sex couples have children?

Adoption is great, and is one of the reasons to oppose research into creating people through these risky experiments: there are too many children that need loving homes. Same-sex couples could continue to have children every way they do now after we prevent genetic engineering. The only thing that needs to be prevented is conception by any means other than joining an egg and a sperm. All forms of conception performed in fertility clinics today still join a woman's natural egg and a man's natural sperm.

What about same-sex marriage?

If we prohibit labs from attempting to create children that are not the union of a woman's egg and a man's sperm, then same-sex marriages will not have a right to conceive children together, which would fundamentally change marriage and put all of our conception rights in jeopardy. To protect our right to have children, we need to preserve marriage's right to conceive children together. Civil unions could be created that have all of the other rights of marriage, but not the right to conceive children together. With this distinction between marriage and civil unions, which would match the distinction between the rights of same-sex and both-sex couples, it will probably be much easier to get federal recognition for same-sex civil unions, as well as get civil unions enacted in all 50 states. This would benefit same-sex couples much more than having a right to conceive children together using genetic engineering. We should push for this compromise solution.

Is it anti-gay to be against same-sex conception?

No, it is anti-genetic engineering. No one should have a right to use genetic engineering to create children. And gay people should have the equal right to conceive children via natural conception. Supporting gay rights does not require supporting genetic engineering for gay couples to have children.

What can we do to stop it?

Raise the issue with friends and coworkers, call talk shows, write letters to papers and politicians. There is no big organization working to prevent this. Politicians are for it (they see a lucrative industry). Not many people visit this little website, so you are one of the few people who even know about this issue. It is really up to you and me to get them to stop genetic engineering of children! We really have to work hard to raise awareness of this issue. Contact me at john@eggandsperm.org to help!

John Howard