As I sat in my dorm room avoiding writing another blog post / waiting for great inspiration with regards to a topic to hit me, I turned to Netflix (shocking– I know). As I scrolled through the many movie choices, the wonderful Jennifer Aniston’s name caught my eye and I clicked “watch now” without even worrying about the flick’s description, assuming it would be a fabulous choice per usual. Little did I know that I was about to embark on a journey in which I was subjected to my favorite actress being alone and tired of waiting for a man to start a family, thus deciding to partake in artificial insemination. This movie, entitled “The Switch” is one of the many recent blockbusters that revolves around a character experimenting with this and the results that come from using this fertility option. I went to a private catholic high school where I learned a lot about the moral aspects of this scientific achievement which is gaining popularity as a logical choice for those who, like Jennifer, want a child without a relationship, or face problems with infertility. I never questioned how children are both emotionally and physically effected by this, if at all. This is a question that scientist try to uncover the answer to.

For those of you who do not know, Web MD defines artificial insemination as “a technique that can help treat certain kinds of infertility in both men and women. In this procedure, sperm are inserted directly into a woman’s cervix, fallopian tubes, or uterus. This makes the trip shorter for the sperm and bypasses any possible obstructions. Ideally, it makes pregnancy possible where it wasn’t before.” A website entitled “Slate” has an article on the psychological well-being of children conceived through artificial insemination. “Each year an estimated 30,000-60,000 children are born in this country via artificial insemination, but the number is only an educated guess. Neither the fertility industry nor any other entity is required to report on these statistics”. Because of this, there is a severe lack of research on the effects brought upon by mothers who become pregnant through these means. The website describes an experiment done on 18 to 45 year olds, 485 of which were conceived via sperm donation, 562 adopted as infants, and 563 raised by their biological parents.Results show that nearly half of sperm donor conceived children are “disturbed” at the idea that money was involved in their conception. Additionally, when they see someone that looks like them, they question whether that person could be their biological parent. To me, this does not seem healthy. Results also showed that “Regardless of socioeconomic status, donor offspring are twice as likely as those raised by biological parents to report problems with the law before age 25. They are more than twice as likely to report having struggled with substance abuse. And they are about 1.5 times as likely to report depression or other mental health problems”. I am only questioning the psychological effect of children conceived through sperm donators and am therefore ignoring the effects of artificial insemination done by two people who love each other yet can not have a child due to infertility. Here is a link to Jennifer Aniston’s character describing her reasoning for deciding to be artificially inseminated.

LIVE STRONG has an article some of the negative physical effects artificial insemination can have on the mother. Women may develop a disease known as ovarian hyperactivity syndrome in which their ovaries become swollen and painful. Also, artificial insemination increases a woman’s chances of becoming impregnated with multiple children at the same time, increasing the risk of birth complications. Other than that, artificial insemination does not specifically seem to lead to birth defects or diseases later in life for the child.

Finally, their is a lot of controversy over the psychological effects sperm donation has on the men involved. The Witherspoon Institute Public Discourse states that, “Commercialized sperm “donation” degrades and objectifies men”. Men may suffer later in life knowing that they are the biological father’s of a certain number of children whom they will never have the opportunity to support or love. A movie featuring Vince Vaughn entitled, “Delivery Man” pokes fun at this serious emotional problem which is becoming apart of our society. The man character finds out that he “fathered 533 children through anonymous donations to a fertility clinic 20 years ago”. 142 of them file a lawsuit to reveal his identity which creates multitudes of issues.

To conclude, medicinal and scientific advances generally have insanely powerful benefits. If you ask a couple who was desperate to have children and, as a result of artificial insemination, received an answer to their prayers, they would most likely advocate the procedure. Speak with Vince Vaughn’s character on the other hand, you may receive a different response. Is are society becoming corrupted in it’s attempts to play God? I’ll leave that question up to you.