Fighting IF On 05/01/2008
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Scientist Says Two Men Could Conceive
A baby, born from two dads? It’s possible, says a leading British scientist.
Calum MacKellar, a lecturer in bioethics and biochemistry at Edinburgh University in Scotland said today that, borrowing from techniques used to clone Dolly the sheep, male couples could someday conceive their own children.
Creating a ‘Male Egg’
The technique, which scientists agree still lies far in the future, would use the egg of a woman. Genetic material inside the woman’s egg would be removed and replaced by the DNA of one of the men. That “male egg” would then be fertilized by the sperm of the other man and a surrogate mother would carry the child to term.
MacKellar admits the concept will take at least “a few years” before it’s possible, but he added that scientists had tried the technique with mice and were working on developing it. Others in the field, however, argue the technique is many more than a few years away.
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Fertility test claims to measure good eggs
A new medical test for women who want to check their biological clocks is debuting in Chicago amid concerns about its usefulness and enormous interest in the consequences of delayed childbearing.
Called Plan Ahead, it is the first fertility test that purports to measure a woman's "ovarian reserve"—how many good eggs she has available for conception.
The $350 test will be marketed to women who are contemplating when to have children and who want to recognize any potential biological limitations.
Dr. Benjamin Leader, chief medical officer for the company marketing the test, Repromedix, compares it to checking the gas gauge on a car to see how much is left in the tank.
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