Day 102 - Of Mice and Men

Earlier this month, it was announced that a team from a German university had used embryonic stem cells from mice to create artificial sperm. Some of these cells were then injected into the eggs of female mice and fertilised. These fertilised eggs were then transplanted into other female mice. Seven babies were born, of which six survived.

So, as many of the more hysterical newspapers claimed, did this really mean the end for fathers? Are we entering an age where we have become an anachronism? Well, there are two aspects to this. When you read a bit more into the story, you find out that all of the surviving mice have some form of abnormality such as abnormal growth or respiratory problems. Secondly, although our genes are probably something like 98% identical, mice are not human beings, so even once you've got the problems with the mice worked out, it doesn't follow that they would immediately be able to do the same with men. Additionally, we need to consider the purpose of this research, which is to investigate how to help men with infertility problems, not to destroy them.

But even this misses the point. Men won't become redundant for the very simple reason that despite what knee-jerk publications like the Daily Mail would undoubtedly have you believe, the country isn't full of men-hating women who seek to undermine the values of middle England by dropping fatherless sprogs everywhere. Men won't become redundant because actually most women want to have their children with one and have an expectation of his involvement with his offspring.

If one were tempted to be paranoid about such things, it'd surely be far more worrying that in the same week as the mice were announced, it was also revealed that IVF clinics will no longer need to consider 'the need for a father' when offering treatment. Again, there will not be a massive rush of men-haters racing to get their fatherless children from the IVF clinic.

But probably the single largest reason why men will remain a relevant part of the whole baby-thang is because men aren't quite the one dimensional beings that they are sometimes portrayed by the more sensationalist elements of the press.

Plus we like doing rude stuff with ladies. That might be quite a big factor too.