Twins With 10 Years Of Age Difference

[Punkcat 0]

In Argentina a new baby girl was born 10 years after her twin was born. After fertilization, the embryo was kept frozen in hydrogen for 10 years until their parents decided to have the new baby. They say it's a carefully planned family, and they didn't have any moral or religious issues with it (they are Jew).
It is a new landmark in Argentinean reproductive medicine, and itâs the first case of successful pregnancy with frozen embryos (for the doctors these are called pre-embryos)
In this specific case, the couple had problems conceiving babies, so in 1996 they turned to assisted fertilization and through this technique 8 pre-embryos were obtained, 4 of which were transferred and one implanted in the motherâs uterus. The other 4 were frozen slowly until they reached 196 degrees below zero. The fist transfer was successful and the mother gave birth to a boy that recently turned 10. His sister â technically twin â was born 10 years later, because the 4 embryos were kept in the freezer and just last year the couple decided to have a new baby. The embryos were unfrozen and transferred, and finally the new baby girl was born. The mother is now 48.
It is an unprecedent "miracle"of the science, and this could be the future of family planning and may raise many types of questions. For example, it's not still regulated in any way the time an embryo should be kept. What if the parents die? and how many embryos should be kept after in-vitro fertilization? According to the medical association, the criopreservation avoids the disposal of non transferred pre-embryos and avoids multiple pregnancy. But then they call this state of pre-embryo until it is implanted in the motherâs womb, and from then on they call it embryo. Arenât they already human beings on their own right?

Link (in Spanish)

[ethergeek 0]

So basically, once they find a way to cause the ova to divide such that identical twins are produced, mothers could always conceive 2 children at once, keep one embryo in the freezer, so that the other child would always have a source of spare body parts that are a guaranteed match. Interesting...makes me wish I had a spare parts brother

[ginginca 0]

For example, it's not still regulated in any way the time an embryo should be kept. What if the parents die? and how many embryos should be kept after in-vitro fertilization? According to the medical association, the criopreservation avoids the disposal of non transferred pre-embryos and avoids multiple pregnancy. But then they call this state of pre-embryo until it is implanted in the motherâs womb, and from then on they call it embryo. Arenât they already human beings on their own right?

 

Link (in Spanish)

I have been through this. When you freeze embryos the mother has all rights and must make all decisions and sign before the freezing takes place. Nothing is left to chance. And take note ... if the mother dies ... it's HER wishes that prevail. Even if the father is still living.

[Punkcat 0]

I've never heard about this, having the mother the only rights to the embryos... And I don't see why. The father is no less a parent for not carrying a baby in his womb, and even up to the freezing stage, both parents have done exactly the same.

[ethergeek 0]

I've never heard about this, having the mother the only rights to the embryos... And I don't see why. The father is no less a parent for not carrying a baby in his womb, and even up to the freezing stage, both parents have done exactly the same.

It's the same reason that abortion is legal. If you take away a woman's right to kill her unborn children, she'll just do it anyway in a way such that she's likely to injure herself (e.g., with a coathanger). So then the bleeding-heart liberals get involved and take away the father's rights to preserve the life of his child so that the idiot mother doesn't hurt herself. I swear every abortion should come with a free pair of those safety scissors they give you in kindergarten.

Funnier still, is that if the father doesn't want children (I don't mean abortion, I mean adoption or some other means of transferring custody) the mother has to agree to this or he's stuck paying child support for 18 years. How fair is that?

[ginginca 0]

I've never heard about this, having the mother the only rights to the embryos... And I don't see why. The father is no less a parent for not carrying a baby in his womb, and even up to the freezing stage, both parents have done exactly the same.

So there's no debate down the road. (In other words law suit.)

[Moon Child 0]

Wow, this is a first I hear. Since there's no ethical issues involved I could see the personal freedom in it, just as long as the government doesn't barge in. Although, it'd be odd to have a twin a whole decade younger than you. At least their dates wouldn't confuse them.

[ginginca 0]

In Canada, IVF is highly regulated.You go by THEIR rules, or you go to another country.

[sparkx 0]

I asked some people about it and they say it doesn't matter when they were suppost to be born but rather when they were born. They say you can be twins if you are more then 2 days apart and that these twins arn't actually twins just sisters. Most people look simalur to there siblines (if they had the same parents). So I don't know if I agree that they are twins. However my source is a group of highschool kids which might not be the best people to get a good opinion on this.Thanks,Sparkx

Edited April 20, 2007 by sparkx (see edit history)

[Mandi 0]

wow i didn't think that was possible !

[MediYama 0]

Must be scary for both of them, as the younger can see what she will end up looking like, and the older can look back at how she looked like ten years ago. Wouldn't like it .

[seec77 0]

I totally agree...It's just too odd!I really don't know what to think about the moral side of the story. Do embryos have life? Are they living? Can we kill them?All these things are so confusing...But yeah, seeing a version of you 10 years older is quite freaky! They both have the exact same genes, and I suspect that for the newly-born to live with her older twin will leave the 10-year-old's personality imprint on the little one. So yeah, it's truly having two copies of the same human under the same roof, and that's just freaky for both!

[trinifawk 0]

So, I'm guessing that they're fraternal twins, and that they probably won't look exactly alike, as they would if they were identical. Many siblings resemble each other, so this may not be the case. I wonder if the child will have any problems developmentally because of this procedure. The long term effects of this have not been fully tested. I wish the family the best. Science truly is a wonder! What will they think of next?

[Thereupon 0]

It STILL astounds me that they can do this kind of thing. It's really a great thing for those who are having trouble conceiving.