Recent scientific breakthroughs will soon allow children to have an infinite number of parents, marking the arrival of "multiplex parenting," according to the Daily Mail. Currently, the in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) technique has already been shown to work on mice, and in theory, upwards of three parents of either sex could contribute the DNA to create a baby.
"IVG could facilitate multiplex parenting, where groups of more than two individuals - whether all male, all female, or a combination - procreate together, producing children who are the genetic progeny of them all," said Sonia Suter, a law professor at George Washington University who explores the issues stemming from IVG in a recent study. "Procreation in this manner troubles many people because of its significant divergence from our understanding of reproduction as something that occurs between two people."
Although further developments are needed before IVG can be used in humans, when the time comes, many ethical dilemmas will arise in regards to how the research should be conducted, Mirror reported. This is especially true due to the fact that there are many risks to the procedure that have yet to be uncovered, making further analysis of the technique essential before its use in humans, according to Science 2.0.
"We have minimal knowledge about the implications of switching cell types from differentiated to undifferentiated states and the implications of erasing and resetting imprinting patterns to facilitate reproduction," Suter said. "The only way to demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of these techniques in humans is to use in vitro gametes to try to produce viable offspring in controlled settings - when and if we deem it sufficiently safe to do so."
Suter's study can be found in the Dec. 17 issue of the Journal of Law and the Biosciences.
