2026-05-02
49 分钟The Economist.
People don't talk about sperm very much.
Yes, they talk about eggs, but not these eggs, our eggs, the ones that make humans.
When it comes to conception though,
I hope I'm not the first person to tell you that these ingredients are rather crucial.
And if we haven't got everything we need,
more and more of us are now finding the means to acquire them.
IVF is increasingly common, and in Britain roughly one in five of those births involves a donor.
In those early moments, most people are thinking about their dream of having a baby.
But then there's a child created from that donation.
How do you tell them about it and when?
Do they have the right to meet their donor?
What about the possibility of siblings?
Yes, there's some regulation, but it's hard to legislate for emotion,
for need, bonds we don't have words for.
We think we know what family is, that we can shape it how we want to.
Maybe, we need to think again.
I'm Rosie Blau, and today on the Weekend Intelligence,
Harriet Shawcross brings us people confronting these abstract ideas in their own very real lives.
She also tells her story of love, a family, a donor, and so many questions.