Virgin Births: It's Now Possible To Get Pregnant Without Having Sex
'Virgin births' are all the rage ... no man required.
Who knew that Jane the Virgin was practically a reality show?
Jane was accidentally inseminated in the show and became pregnant, but according to this Daily Mail article, approximately 25 women in the last five years have knowingly given birth without ever having had sexual intercourse.
With virgin births, it's now possible to get pregnant without having sex.
And while you'd think that women who decide to wait for that special person — but who still want to be mothers while they're young and fertile — would be applauded, there are critics of the practice of virgins having babies. They say these women have issues with the new technologies of assisted conception.
Josephine Quintavalle of the group Comment on Reproductive Ethics said, "What is the child for these women? A teddy bear that they pick off the shelf? The message from nature is for a male and a female to have a child, and I'm saddened that we're willing to distort this. The diminished role of the father isn't desirable for the child. Once you start down this route, where do you stop?"
People are always going to find something to object to.
Why can't they just be happy that women who really want children get an opportunity to have them?
Some people object to virgins having IVF because they believe that such treatments should be reserved for people who are trying to conceive but are unsuccessful.
But if a woman can pay for these treatments and has thought it through, it's not like she's using up all the treatments.
There are also some individuals who say that a virgin birth affects a child adversely. How? We don't know.
Professor Adam Balen, chair of The British Fertility Society, challenges the idea that virgin births aren't good for the child. "There are some women who wish to have children who aren't in traditional relationships, and are either single or in same-sex relationships," he said.
"There is good evidence that children conceived with donated sperm fare well during childhood and later life without any specific concerns or problems.
All fertility clinics are required to provide careful screening and counseling prior to such treatment, while those unavailable on the NHS will have to be self-funded."
Obviously, if a woman is going to go through the expensive (even if subsidized) and oftentimes painful IVF treatments, they'll have thought long and hard about what they're getting into.
Parenting isn't an easy job, and it isn't always fun, but some women have a desperate need to be a mother. PDT
Are they supposed to wait forever, hoping that everything will click into place, or should they take advantage of modern medical advances?
Many people have their own versions of what the family unit is, but as long as a child receives the love and care they deserve, it shouldn't matter if they have the traditional mother and father.
There are a lot of single moms out there (not necessarily by choice) who are doing an amazing job raising their children.
Christine Schoenwald is a writer, performer, and astrology lover. She's had articles in The Los Angeles Times, Salon, and Woman's Day