In her novel “The Cleft,” Doris Lessing invites us into a fairy-tale society, free from sexual conspiracy, jealousy, and petty rivalries: a society free from men. She recounts the history of the Clefts, an ancient community of womyn living in a coastal wilderness where childbirth is controlled, and their children are always female. Lessing’s is a story of our earliest ancestors, a race that emerged before humanity, as we know it came into existence, before men existed. While some may argue against such a testosterone-free world, and praise the patriarchal society it has given way to, according to Discover Magazine on June 15, 2007, Dr. Karim Nayernia has found a way to bring us back to the time before men walked the earth, by harvesting bone marrow in order to create sperm cells. This revolutionary process breaks from the traditional reproductive constraints, removing the physical need for both a male and female, and in the end, gives couples made of two womyn the ability to biologically produce a child.
But don’t worry guys, there not going to get rid of all of us....yet.
Normally “the talk” begins with the birds and bees, but soon it will be the birds and the birds…or is it the bees and the bees? Either way, the process itself has significantly changed, and we must understand the actual experiment that has taken leaps towards such a development. According to the April 2007 academic journal, Reproduction: Gamete Biology, in July of 2006 Dr. Nayernia extracted undeveloped cells from the bone marrow of mice and, by using proteins that promote cell growth along with Vitamin A, coaxed them into spermatoagonial stem cells , which would then form into mature sperm. These were then transplanted into the mice’s testes where they were monitored as they underwent meiosis and developed into mature sperm cells. Dr. Nayernia announced in the January 31, 2008 Environmental Graffiti that the bone marrow sperm was successfully transplanted into female mice eggs resulting in seven live births, although, one died and the other six had minor health problems. However, these results were strong enough that researchers believe humyn testing can soon begin. The April 13, 2007 London Independent maintains that with the success of the procedure in mice, this new technique for producing sperm can easily be applied to humyns, and describes the process. After bone marrow tissue is extracted from the person, scientists will isolate the stem cells to be used. Through a culture medium, the stem cells are then coaxed to develop into early sperm cells. Once they have stabilized in their development, these cells can either be implanted into a man’s testes or, if the person is female, the cells can reach maturity in a test tube. At this point, there would be no difference between this bone marrow sperm and sperm produced the old fashioned way, and are completely ready to fertilize a womyn’s egg. Given the fact that these sperm cells are created from any individual’s bone marrow, male or female, this process easily lends itself to the breakdown of the need for both a man and womyn to biologically interact in order to make a baby.
Reproduction has been valued as a gift, something that must be cherished and never taken for granted. However, in our society, there are couples that have not only had this gift taken from them, but those who have never been given it to begin with, and with a development such as this, we can aid them all. Obviously, infertility is the first condition bone marrow sperm can cure. Whether it’s a natural disorder that some men may be victim to, or as the April 13, 2007 Press Associate claims, one more sacrifice that men with cancer must make due to the side effects of chemotherapy, male infertility is a devastating reality to those who cannot parent their own biological children. However, the Guardian notes on April 27, 2007 that since bone marrow can now be developed into mature, healthy sperm cells, infertile men can now be given the gift of fathering their previously denied biological child. Not only does this procedure benefit infertile men, but according to the April 16, 2007 Pretoria News, this technique could be adapted to help female infertility by growing eggs through the same process. However, the London Telegraph claims on January 31, 2008 that in Brazil, Dr. Irina Kerkis has started to make eggs from bone marrow stem cells, but they have all been completely sterile. Therefore, with current research, only same-sex female couples could biologically parent a child without the use of donors. However, there is one little quirk. The previously cited Discover Magazine reminds us that while a male’s sperm carries both an X and Y chromosome, bone marrow sperm made from a female would only have two X’s, and therefore, the resulting child would always be guaranteed to be female. Regardless, by removing the need for both a man and womyn to go through the lengthy, messy, and sometimes uncomfortable process of making a baby, this groundbreaking technology is finally challenging the social and biological limitations put upon humyn reproduction.
So now that whole birds and the birds thing doesn’t seem so far off, huh? Just imagine it, a world where womyn wouldn’t need men…for anything, able to procreate completely on their own. Unfortunately, we need to realize that it’s not as simple as that. According to the April 16, 2007 News in Science, Professor Harry Moore, of the Center for Stem Cell Biology at the University of Sheffield, notes that while stem cell manipulations in mice are successful, humyns are much more complex, and that these sperm cells could have permanent genetic changes that would make them unsafe to use, especially in the complicated reproductive process. Due to this argument, the British government has taken a stand against stem cell sperm. Big surprise! The April 13, 2007 France Agency Press, explains that the British government has recently proposed bans on using artificially created sperms or eggs in assisted human reproduction. The ban explains that there are profound ethical implications, but in the April 19, 2007 Pulse, Dr. Allan Pacey, secretary of the British Fertility Society, speaks of the importance of continuing research on this breakthrough, since through the testing and research of bone marrow sperm cells, we can unlock the mysteries of humyn reproduction and infertility. Should the world progress beyond the close-minded understanding of making babies, we may find even larger implications. The social impact of such a revolution is by far the most significant to consider. The desire of many sterile heterosexual couples to biologically parent a child, is now probable. Beyond that, much of the debate over same-sex marriage is based on the argument that two individuals of the same sex cannot produce a child. However, with this breakthrough, this aspect of the debate is now a moot point, at least for female couples. But even though there has been experimentation to allow male couples to synthesize eggs from their own bone marrow, the London Telegraph of February 12, 2008 maintains that until an egg can successfully be produced, dreams of parenthood will have to wait. Therefore, only lesbian couples can biologically parent a child. Though, some have spoken out against this idea. On April 14, 2007, Father Joe Parkinson, director of the L.J. Goody Bioethics Centre told The West Australian that two females achieving pregnancy is not assisting nature, it’s over-ruling nature. Perhaps he just fears that, as a man, he’s becoming obsolete; because just think long term…really long term. The April 14, 2007 Courier Mail claims if we abuse this technology, then the number of men on this planet could dwindle down to nothing. While this seems like a bit of a stretch, in today’s world, womyn already outnumber men, and they're not even doing anything special. Plus, according to the July 24, 2007 Associated Content, the Y chromosome is becoming extinct, with the life expectancy of males quickly dropping and females living longer than ever. Factor in a process that guarantees a female birth, and the male species may find itself struggling for dominance…for a change.
A planet full of womyn: is that a hetero man’s dream or his worst nightmare? Hopefully we’ve realized, that this development won’t make everyone come out of the closet, but rather, has evolved our society past the traditional notions of reproduction. Doris Lessing wrote in her novel of a time when men began to be born into a world of womyn, and their society had to adapt in order to flourish.
--Roger
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