http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227032.400-sperm-bank-sued-under-product-liability-law.html
Admittedly, having Fragile X Syndrome would be fairly terrible. Having any genetic disease would be a bad thing in general, but this concerns me not only as a prospective lawyer, but as a male. There's no way to determine whether something will go wrong with a conception, and that an aneuploidic condition will arise: Turner's Syndrome, Kleinfelter's, Down's Syndrome, ect. All of these are caused by something going wrong in the formation of the sperm (or egg, for that matter), but are almost impossible to test for prior to fertilization except by hand-picking the sperm that will be used to inseminate (which is possible through Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection). Otherwise, it's just bad luck. Also, not for nothing, but Fragile X Syndrome is far more likely to come from the mother than the father, as a male is always symptomatic if he has it, while a woman can be fairly normal if she has only one expression of the defective genes.
If we're going to accept some form of liability for aneuploidic conditions, what's to prevent a daughter from suing her father for giving her bad genes? Hell, if we accept any liability for genetic issues, why not be able to sue for a propensity toward cancer, or diabetes, or obesity? If sperm's a product, then every male is at risk for being sued for a defective product.
Admittedly, having Fragile X Syndrome would be fairly terrible. Having any genetic disease would be a bad thing in general, but this concerns me not only as a prospective lawyer, but as a male. There's no way to determine whether something will go wrong with a conception, and that an aneuploidic condition will arise: Turner's Syndrome, Kleinfelter's, Down's Syndrome, ect. All of these are caused by something going wrong in the formation of the sperm (or egg, for that matter), but are almost impossible to test for prior to fertilization except by hand-picking the sperm that will be used to inseminate (which is possible through Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection). Otherwise, it's just bad luck. Also, not for nothing, but Fragile X Syndrome is far more likely to come from the mother than the father, as a male is always symptomatic if he has it, while a woman can be fairly normal if she has only one expression of the defective genes.
If we're going to accept some form of liability for aneuploidic conditions, what's to prevent a daughter from suing her father for giving her bad genes? Hell, if we accept any liability for genetic issues, why not be able to sue for a propensity toward cancer, or diabetes, or obesity? If sperm's a product, then every male is at risk for being sued for a defective product.
