MSNBC.com is reporting on a new story from Austin, Texas. I have to wonder if this story will lead to as much debate as the OctoMom story that will just never die. In this most recent story, a mother - Marissa Evans has received approval to harvest her dead son's sperm. Her reasoning for this is - "I want to keep a piece of him." Evans's goal is to one day have a surrogate pregnancy so her son will live on through children. The question is - Is she taking this too far? More follows below...
As the news story points out, the 21 year old son died this Sunday after he was brutally attacked 2 weeks ago. The mother said her son Nicholas had dreamed of having sons one day, and that he even chose names for them - Hunter, Todd and Van. The mother hopes to fulfill his wish soon.
As an aside, I should say that my heart goes out to the family because I imagine that a loss like this is devastating. Although I'm not a parent, I have lost loved ones, but still, this is a tough one. From the mom's description, this young man was a good, good soul. He will surely be missed by many, I imagine. Here is a video of it from NBC's Austin News (I'm sorry about the cabinetry commercial at the start).
Yet, I have to wonder about the ethics of this of situation. As the news story points out, there isn't much of a legal precedent for these circumstances. But as Matt Lauer points out - there are some significant questions of legality and ethics at hand. In this case, we see MSNBC.com point out that a parent has guardianship over a child, but I'm skeptical about a mother's right to take the sperm.
I am also bothered by the way that MSNBC.com and other news companies exploit these kinds of stories (much like how the so-called "Octomom" has become a well-known, spectacle of a figure). Doesn't the mainstream media have anything more important to report on - such as the suffering of people in Iraq - or the people dying of HIV/AIDS in Africa or contemporary slavery? Certainly, these kinds of stories do raise ethical debates that need addressing, but doesn't the media turn it into a circus? I fear that by even bringing this up - that I am participating in the "circusing" of it - but my interest in health leads me to question it. The question then would be - How far is too far?
Personally, if I had a son, I can't imagine doing this without my son's consent. It strikes me as an invasion of privacy. But since I'm not in this mother's situation, I feel like I can't even begin to imagine it. I'm curious if you think the mother made the right choice. Would you do as the mother did?