A genetic time bomb?

At the week-end we learned that a woman had won the legal right to keep the birth of her child a secret from its father. The baby was apparently the result of a "one night stand" with a working colleague. He is, and will remain, blissfully ignorant of his paternity unless the mother changes her mind.

This follows a recent decision that two lesbian "mothers"may procreate a fatherless baby - without using any male genetic input except that of one or both fathers of the two women via the womens' material.

What the long-term implications are for this sex-less procreation we must leave to experts to predict. What may be of concern is the kind of society we are creating immediately, with large numbers of children born out of marriage or from sperm by donors. Illegitimacy has been ever with us, and does not seem to have caused a large number of problems, but we may be entering a new situation. It is conceivable, especially with earlier sexual activity, for a father to mate with his daughter, a mother with her son or involving siblings. With fewer details declared in birth certificates, and so many unknown fathers, and now with fatherless conception, there appears to be less control on problems of consanguinity.

The "aberrant" few in days gone by did not wreck society because they were relatively few, and their effects were partly mitigated by over-bearing parish Overseers/Guardians. Now the trickle is becoming more of a stream and all have the shelter of the Human Rights Act...