Want a Baby? How Much Do You Like Your Father-in-Law?

Here's a headline guaranteed to catch the eye:

DUTCH MAN SEEKS CHILD WITH FATHER’S SPERM

Except…the man may get the sperm, and the headlines, but it’s his wife who has the uterus.  I'm trying to imagine the stress and deep-thinking going on in her head. I have to imagine because she's not interviewed in the story.  Silly me. It's obviously all about the boys.

But, of course, it isn't.

How much of this mom-to-be's acceptance of this plan is based on pleasing her husband vs. her own desire for a child?  And, does she want to experience pregnancy so badly that she’s making a decision she might later regret? Certainly that would be the worst-case scenario, leading her to abuse the child with subtle or obvious attacks.

And, yes, Oprah introduced the world to a 61-year-old American woman who delivered her own grandchild.  But, that lady was implanted with an egg from her daughter’s womb that had been fertilized by her son-in-law.  

In this new story, the woman in The Netherlands — the one with the uterus — has apparently decided to carry a child whose “grandfather” is its biological father. Her husband will be her child’s biological half-brother.

 It’s not totally icky, but danged close.