Older than my parents?

A granddaughter giving birth to her aunt or uncle. A woman giving birth to her brother. Sound like science fiction? It’s not. This may become possible if the powers given to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority ("HFEA") are used. The HFEA has been given extraordinary and frightening powers in relation to the embryo and are currently consulting on a proposal to freeze an embryo or sperm for 55 years (extended from 10 years).

The background to this is not so far fetched. It is intended to meet the concern that someone may become infertile and may know of that risk (eg someone with cancer). So they can freeze eggs or sperm against that event. However, there are no rules preventing close relatives who would normally be forbidden to marry each other from donating sperm or embryos. This means that grandparents could donate embryos to their granddaughter for her IVF treatment if she becomes infertile. In this situation, the granddaughter would give birth to her mother's brother or sister-her aunt or uncle. The child could claim to be ‘older than my parents’.

This is a minefield. It needs careful thought and controls. The fear is that something that may be put in place to help infertility will result in unscrupulous practices and commercial exploitation for profit. Theoretically there would be nothing to stop a 35 year-old soon-to-be-infertile man from having his sperm stored until he was 90, or alternatively, from storing his parents' embryos and using them to have a child years later, after his (and the child's) biological parents had died. That child would be both his own brother and his own son.

A case of ethics being overtaken by science. Because we can doesn’t mean we should.

(More on this from lawyer Andrea Williams on CCFON: http://www.ccfon.org/)

It is well with my soul

With the death of an infant through fever followed by the Chicago fire in the late 1800’s, which destroyed their business, it is true to say Horatio Spafford and his wife were struggling. They got a message from their friend D L Moody, the famous evangelist. He invited them over to Europe to work with him and to take a well earned holiday. They took the advice.

Spafford had a few business deals to finish, so he sent his wife and four daughters ahead on a ship, intending to travel later. The ship sank. Although his wife survived, all four of Spafford’s daughters drowned. On hearing the news, Spafford took the next available ship.

As they travelled past where the first ship had gone down, the Captain pointed it out to Spafford. Quietly, Spafford left the Bridge, wend down to his cabin and picked up pen and paper. The result was the famous hymn ‘It is well With My Soul’. Here are some of the words:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

The tune has not travelled so well down the years as the words have. Recently, Chris Tomlin wrote the song ‘I Will Rise’, with a direct link to the earlier hymn. Here it is:



This song and video (thanks to Tim Prentice for the video) were used by me in my talk at KingsGate Church on 28th December 08. You can listen to the talk by cut and pasting this link:

http://www.kingsgateuk.com/Media/Player.aspx?media_id=25647&file_id=27986

Each day, every day

When Federico Macheda woke up on Sunday morning, did he know it was going to be his day? Manchester United had a number of suspensions and injuries which meant the 17 year old was promoted to the subs bench of the first team.

Things didn’t go well. Having lost the top spot in the Premiership to Liverpool the day before, United were losing at home 2-1 to Aston Villa. The manager decided on a radical change. On came Macheda. At 2-2 and in injury time, he took the ball in the area, turned and shot an exquisite goal into the top corner of the net.

That morning, it was just an ordinary day. By the end of Sunday, he was famous.

How do we treat each day? Just another day, or one that has the possibility of a moment in it to change a life?

The Psalmist says ‘Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life’. Surely goodness and mercy and opportunity and potential and excitement. Each day. Every day.