Gay Couples Soon To Have Children As Scientists Create Human Embryos

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

PORTLAND, USA (Worthy News) – Scientists at a prominent American university are getting closer to “creating” human embryos without women enabling gay couples to have children of their own.

The Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland said they were making human embryos using the DNA of only two men.

That raised “the possibility of men in same-sex relationships having children who are genetically related to both parents,” the OHSU added in comments seen by Worthy News on Monday.

The OHSO said the process of “in vitro gametogenesis (IVG)” involves creating a fake egg using skin cells and fertilizing it with sperm.

“Researchers at OHSU documented the technique, known as in vitro gametogenesis, or IVG, in a mouse model through preliminary steps that rely upon transferring the nucleus of a skin cell into a donated egg in which the nucleus has been removed,” the OHSU News service explained.

“Using mice, the investigators coaxed the skin cell’s nucleus into reducing its chromosomes by half so that it could then be fertilized by a sperm cell to create a viable embryo.”

The researchers claimed that besides meeting the let’s-have-children wishes of same-sex couples, “the technique could be used by women of advanced maternal age. Or those who are unable to produce viable eggs due to previous treatment for cancer or other causes.”

DOLLY THE SHEEP

The technique used is similar to what was done in 1996 to clone Dolly the sheep, according to experts.

“This gives us a lot of insight,” said Paula Amato, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at OHSU School of Medicine. “But there is still a lot of work that needs to be done to understand how these chromosomes pair and how they faithfully divide to actually reproduce what happens in nature.”

However, churches have expressed concerns about these developments.

Even before the latest announcement, the Catholic Church, among others, expressed concerns about aspects of in vitro fertilization (IVF), a process of fertilization where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro or “in glass.”

The Catholic Church holds that this disassociation is contrary to the dignity of parents and children.

It says that because conception through IVF is “brought about outside the bodies of the couple through actions of third parties,” such fertilization “entrusts the life and identity of the embryo into the power of doctors and biologists.”

The Catholic Church added that “it establishes the domination of technology over the origin and destiny of the human person.”

While there have been different opinions about IVF, the latest developments were due to raise ethical concerns within churches that see a man and a woman as a crucial unit for a family and raising children.

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