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Cloning, Stem Cells and Infertility
(By G. Waite, modified by R. Moorgate)
© 2001 The Reproductive Cloning Network, and affiliated members.
Human cloning. Is human cloning inherently wrong, immoral, evil? Or is human cloning
a misunderstood technology, a bright light, that offers so much to so many. If my
intention was diplomacy, I might declare that the answer lies somewhere in the middle.
But that would be a lie, I would be betraying the moral principles that I hold in such
esteem. I know of no other technology that is as misunderstood as human cloning. I know
of no other biological innovation that has as much potential as human cloning. I honestly
could not even begin to imagine another field of research that truly does offer so much to
so many.
Through the therapeutic cloning of human embryonic stem cells, we have the potential to
cure a huge plethora of diseases and disorders that plague our species. How can a
civilized society turn its back on the diseases, sickness and suffering of its own people? Is
a microscopic cleaving egg, four days after fertilization, really more important that curing
your father's Alzheimer's, your mother's Parkinson's, or your son's diabetes? And before
you answer, realize that the diseases I have mentioned are but the tip of the iceberg.
Cloned human embryonic stem cells have the potential to cure, or assist in the discovery
of a cure, for just about any disease or disorder you can imagine. Pliable undifferentiated
cloned cells, genetically identical to you, your salvation from the diseases that ail you.
Therapeutic human cloning truly is a modern day miracle. But this miracle is only half of
the story. And it is with a heavy heart that I write that the other half of this miracle is
reproductive human cloning, for I know that I now face an uphill battle.
Reproductive human cloning. The conception of a genetically identical child to one of the
parents. A new technology that offers the infertile the chance to have a biologically
related child. For the first time in human history, infertile couples, who suffer so much,
can have the family they need. This need for a closely bonded, related family, is
completely missed by those well meaning friends who suggest (in the strongest possible
terms) that you adopt. No-one can dictate your family to you, it is your choice. How a
wonderful technology, that involves the creation of life, the creation of a much loved and
wanted child, the creation of a family that would not otherwise have existed, has become
so hated and misunderstood, remains almost beyond my comprehension.
The only aspect of reproductive human cloning that does concern me, is the
developmental problems found in mammalian clones. But recently, exciting steps have
been taken towards screening cloned mammalian embryos for abnormally expressed
genes. This raises the possibility that we may soon be able to screen out epigenetically
abnormal cloned embryos. If this screening can be proven to work in various mammals,
logic dictates that it almost certainly work in humans too. As the safety and efficiency of
cloning science continues to improve, this novel technology becomes an increasingly
viable option for infertile people to conceive a related child.
With approximately one in six married couples having difficulty conceiving, the potential
of this technology to fulfill the basic human need for a family, is genuinely immense.
As human cloning technology matures, each one of us must ask ourselves a simple
question. Do we possess a fundamental human right to reproduce? The right to have a
biologically related family? The right to have a child?
For me, this is the same basic right as the human right to life. And in many ways, I would
put the right to reproduce above the right to life; as our children are the future, the next
generation. You may die, your body may wither, but your genes survive. Through your
children, a small part of you lives on.
Please don't deprive infertile couples of this fundamental human right. Cloning
technology allows us to have a biologically related child to cherish and love. Yet our
society is so blind to this fact. This is why I decided to write this message. In the hope
that people who read it might start to look at human cloning with a different perspective.
Might begin to comprehend the potential of this novel technology. I hope this simple
message opens your mind, at least to some degree, to the beneficial aspects of human
cloning. My only desire is to broaden your perspectives to this new technology, and for
you to consider what you may have originally thought unthinkable, that human cloning is
not inherently wrong, immoral or evil. But that therapeutic human cloning for embryonic
stem cells, has the potential to cure our neighbors, friends and family, and that
reproductive human cloning offers infertile couples the chance to conceive a genetically
related child.
Please don't allow fear of new technology, to destroy something as intrinsically
important, as the fundamental human right to conceive a biologically related child.
Thank you for listening.