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| Great White North |
| Steyn: The Ultimate Outsourcing |
| 2009-08-13 |
| Anyone know, if the the offspring of one of these liaisons can claim US citizenship?(assuming, of course that the sperm came from a US citizen) My jaw doesn't often drop, but this story had it heading for the basement: Thousands of Canadians who are infertile in Canada have to place all their hopes on just 33 men who are Canadian sperm donors. What? A nation of 30 million people has just 33 sperm donors? Apparently so. Now why would that be? At one time Canada had two dozen sperm banks but when the Assisted Human Reproduction Act made it illegal to pay for sperm or egg donors they dried up in 2004. Today there are very few men willing to give up their sperm for nothing. Well, okay. But these 33 hard-workin' guys, there's still room for a bit of individual selection, right? Up to a point: "Today, there is one South Asian donor for all of Canada," he says, noting that couples are often shocked at the limited choices. One donor for thousands of wannabe parents? He must be working round the clock. Well, not quite. For Canadian womenfolk have now been reduced to the ultimate indignity: Doctors and patients have had little choice but to use sperm and eggs from south of the border. One of the biggest suppliers of donor sperm is Outreach Health Services which imports and distributes semen for assisted reproduction clinics across Canada. The company imports sperm from an agency that collects primarily from men in Georgia and northern Florida, where donors are paid about $100 per visit. With so much sperm coming from the States, some estimate that up to 80 per cent of babies conceived in Canada through donor sperm have American DNA. Wow. This isn't your father's War of 1812. The poor Canucks never saw it coming. Millions of Yank sperm leaping like salmon up the Ontario side of Niagara Falls. A wait for semen seems pretty much the logical reductio of "free at the point of demand" health care. But, as Kathy Shaidle says, how can this go wrong? Canada, circa 2050: Eighty percent drawling rednecks demanding grits with their maple-creme donuts, and the remainder a vast tribe of intermarried step-siblings riddled with genetic disorders descended from "one South Asian donor." |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #12 What? A nation of 30 million people has just 33 sperm donors? Apparently so. Won't a lot of the sperm donor babies start to look a little like Smilin Bob? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2009-08-13 17:32 |
| #11 Cornsilk Blondies comment= funny :-) |
| Posted by: GirlThursday 2009-08-13 17:14 |
| #10 I'm sure there's a snark lurking somewhere in a Canadian version of "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses..." You have to imagine the words on an appropriate statue at the Blaine border crossing.... |
| Posted by: Thimp tse Tung9417 2009-08-13 15:04 |
| #9 IF they really want Canadian (tm) genetic material there's plenty of it floating around the back-country of New England and Louisiana. Of course, they may not be _that_ loyal to the crown. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2009-08-13 13:10 |
| #8 obviously they've never tried shrimp and grits - them's good eats. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2009-08-13 12:22 |
| #7 Maple Cream donuts ARE pretty good. |
| Posted by: Mullah Richard 2009-08-13 12:01 |
| #6 With the way the courts are, sperm donation could be a 18+ -year commitment. Joke: A guy is caught in the back seat with his girlfriend by her sheriff father. "Marriage or twenty years!". Guy chooses marriage. So they get married, have kids, job, vacations, etc... Until one morning the wife comes down and sees her husband sitting alone in the dark kitchen staring off into space with a tear running down his cheek. "What's wrong honey", she asks. "Do you remember when we got married because your father caught us in the back seat?" "Yes. What about it?" "I would have gotten out today." |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2009-08-13 11:13 |
| #5 Canuckettes apparently never heard of "Happy Hour"? Sure, you might have to buy a drink or two, but that's a bargain compared to US prices.... |
| Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie 2009-08-13 11:10 |
| #4 Sperm donation is normally sold as a "bundle" deal... |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2009-08-13 11:04 |
| #3 Today there are very few men willing to give up their sperm for nothing. Many men spend most of their time and paychecks trying to donate sperm. Perhaps these Canadians are looking in the wrong place. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-08-13 09:48 |
| #2 Today there are very few men willing to give up their sperm for nothing. Oh, hey, we got you covered (so to speak). Add that to your gene pool, Canuckettes. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2009-08-13 07:56 |
| #1 Maple Cream donuts? Sounds interesting. |
| Posted by: Unitle Borgia4836 2009-08-13 04:21 |