Nightline E-mail: August 28
W A S H I N G T O N, August 28 -- Egg donors. Sperm banks. In vitro fertilization. Surrogate mothers. All of these modern day reproduction techniques have helped thousands of people become parents who might otherwise never have had that opportunity. And it's probably fair to say that in the overwhelming majority of cases, these families are the better for it. Few of these families ever end up in court, battling for custody or money or both.
But some do. These technologies have also spawned a slew of complicated lawsuits. Perhaps you have heard of some of these well publicized cases. There is the case of the surrogate mother who discovered she was carrying twins and refused to abort one of the fetuses, as the adoptive parents' contract required. There is the case of the couple who, through in vitro fertilization, were able to conceive not one, but four children through anonymously donated sperm. But when the parents divorced before the birth, who is required to pay child support? The sperm donor or the ex-husband?
As Lewis Carroll wrote in "Alice in Wonderland", things are getting "curioser and curioser."
Tonight Nightline's Chris Bury reports on several of these current lawsuits. As Chris explains, the law is like the turtle to the hare of technology. While medical science and the internet create new and more complicated family arrangements every year, the courts move achingly slowly, especially where precedent is so scarce. State and federal legislatures have largely been loathe to write new laws in these areas, as politicians run from them like political hot potatoes. Ted Koppel will moderate a discussion about the ethical and legal morass with two women expert in these fields. As you will see tonight, none of these situations has easy answers.
Sara Just is a Senior Producer for Nightline.
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