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Speakeasy forum: Perhaps everyone should go on Maury.

by: JP Bill July 17, 2009 4:18 AM PDT

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Perhaps everyone should go on Maury.

by JP Bill - 7/17/09 4:18 AM

'Misattributed paternity' sparks ethical dilemma

There can be few more intimate familial acts than donating a life-saving kidney to a sick child or parent, but in close to 3% of father-child organ donations, routine testing reveals there is no actual biological relationship between the two family members, a new Canadian study has concluded.

Patients, donors and medical staff surveyed by researchers at the University of Western Ontario were divided on whether transplant programs should disclose such potentially explosive information to the families.

You are NOT your babies Daddy!!


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I vote 'No!"

by Angeline Booher Moderator - 7/17/09 1:32 PM

In Reply to: Perhaps everyone should go on Maury. by JP Bill

The personnel can come up with other reasons why.

Apparently both Mom and Dad are confident of the paternity. And the child would be devastated to learn differently.

The child will be on the list to receive a donor organ. His chances of finding a match as as good as anyone's.

Let them be.

Angeline
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I agree.

by JP Bill - 7/17/09 1:38 PM

In Reply to: I vote 'No!" by Angeline Booher Moderator

I just makes a bigger mess of a terrible situation.


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Of course, Angeline...

by J. Vega - 7/17/09 10:20 PM

In Reply to: I vote 'No!" by Angeline Booher Moderator

Of course, it would mess up the part of their medical history that checks on family genetic history for some diseases or other problems.
Sickle cell anemia comes to mind. If the actual unknown biological parent had it, they would be a genetic carrier. It wouldn't effect them directly, but if they knew it they might want to be aware if it if their spouse is also a genetic carrier.
They might think there was no problem with a carrier spouse, as they erroneously thought they were at no risk of being a carrier. Neither of those two would have a problem, but mathematics favor 25% of their offspring having a problem.
Of course, the unknown parent might have been just a carrier, in which case they would have a 50% chance of being a carrier, reducing the odds in the case of their offspring.
The situation may not be so "cut and dried", considering genetics. It may make the choice of whether or not to tell them more complicated than it might seem.


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Until the court started voiding legal adoptions

by Angeline Booher Moderator - 7/18/09 6:50 AM

In Reply to: Of course, Angeline... by J. Vega

.... and returning children to their biological parents/parent, and one or the other parent could change their mind years later and win, Family medical histories were not known.

Medical histories now include family history. However, there is no guarantee that the information provided is accurate. (Some are not prone to admit to mental illness there.)

Now the advances in genetic testing for familial conditions can provide information if a couple wants to have the potential adoptee checked out beforehand.

However, I think that the couples who opt for adoption do not think along those lines. They want a child, and are willing to take their chances as we all do with our progeny.

There are inherited conditions that require that both parents have the gene. One can only be a carrier. Example, inherited iron overload.

Do we start requiring that genetic testing be a part of the marriage license issuance? Or by the obstetrician at the first office visit? Or mandated for everyone at a certain age? (I started to say before becoming sexually active, but that gets younger and younger.) Or, horror of horrors, we sterilize the carriers?

The issue of inherited medical problems is complicated.

Conventional parents roll the dice. (There is always the chance that one that jumps generations can show up.)

I see nothing to be gained by destroying a family just because the technology now exists that blows the whstle.

Angeline
Speakeasy Moderator
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Gee....why not go back in history and

by Steven Haninger - 7/18/09 3:38 AM

In Reply to: Perhaps everyone should go on Maury. by JP Bill

dig up a few graves. Maybe we'd find a problem with the succession of kings. Maybe those chastity belts weren't failsafe. Maybe some who claim lineage with royalty, presidents, great scientists, etc., might just be products of highwaymen, vagabonds, etc. Or, maybe the reverse might be true. Maybe you missed a huge inheritance somewhere....all but for not giving up a few cells of your body.


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