17 July 2007
When I read that Cousin Thierry had been sold to Barcelona by Arsenal for €24 million I knew that the Henry clan were at last being recognised for the valuable people we are. I thought of applying for a transfer myself — Barcelona is such a delightful place, but apparently the window of opportunity or whatever it is called for footballers to move has closed for the moment, so I will have to wait until next year. What is the monetary value of a human being? Much more if one is a spectacular athlete than moi même who could probably be designated to the position of below-stairs servant, pot-walloping for my keep, and be sold for a very lowly sum. What a wonderful time actuaries could have if the sale of human beings was allowed again – outside the field of sport.
And what about the sale of human spare parts? Kidneys are available now in many countries mainly sold to the richer people with renal problems of those countries. Does the Chinese state receive money or is it the doctors involved that get the cash when those who are subjected to capital punishment have their organs sold to foreigners or other Chinese? Hands can be transplanted, even faces — will there be a price soon for these?
The use of gametes on a voluntary basis has long been allowed. Recent advertisements especially in the newspapers in the US indicate that gametes now have a monetary value depending on their genetic makeup.
Sperm is pretty easy to come by — too easy many would say – but sperm is now being graded by all sorts of criteria. “Tall, blond, intelligent” seem easy to measure but “good at cooking”! Now my husband can cook and my sons, too. But I’m inclined to think this was a skill acquired for environmental reasons (me being late to make dinner and hunger taking over) rather than haute-cuisine genes from either parent.
While sperm did not make a great deal of money, an egg with many specifications regarding looks and IQ was sought in one advertisement I saw for $35,000. A girl has only so many eggs, much less than a boy has sperm and there is much more of a risk in collection of these gametes. The price must be very tempting for some poorer young college students — I doubt if non third-level women would be considered suitable applicants unless they have the facility sought in one advertisement of “tanningability” and I still haven’t quite worked out what this means.
The sale of gametes has got to be part of the debate on infertility. I have to no idea if infertility really has increased in this generation — when I was a young thing avoidance of pregnancy was all the rage — but there are many reasons why our changed lifestyle should have made decreased fertility a reality.
As with most countries the percentage of Irish people now living in urban areas has increased dramatically — from 32 per cent in 1926 to 60 per cent in 2002. There has also been a significantly increased sprawl in major urban areas. This causes young couples particularly those living in surrounding towns, to have long commutes into the cities to work. Both have to work to pay the mortgage. These long commutes leave people with less time for exercise which leads to an increase in blood pressure and obesity. We know that obesity affects fertility. Is it possible that elevated blood pressure does the same? Long commuting times also have an impact on mental health and family life with being too tired for sex emerging as a real problem.
While recognising that planners and sociologists are not elected by the people and politicians are, it would be a good thing if everyone took more time to consider the long-term effects of the developments we allow in all countries. Even if the design of the immediate environment surrounding our homes and places of work improved our mental and physical well-being would improve. The likelihood of being physically active can be up to three times higher in residential areas which contain high levels of greenery and likelihood of being overweight or obese may be 40 per cent less in these areas. One of several young women who were seeking advice on fertility told me it was suggested she should loose 10 stone — 140lbs or 65-odd kilos, for a start. What is happening to young people that they should have achieved such a size? The promotion of junk food and portion sizes of food have increased dramatically, and this is another area which should be addressed by politicians and that does not mean promoting a “nanny” state mentality. I had an hysterically funny conversation with an expert in assisted human reproduction (not of this parish) a few years ago. We were walking down O’Connell Street in Dublin having been at a lecture in the Rotunda on in vitro fertilisation. He started to talk about the sexual activity of his patients: “They come to me saying they have sex every month around the time she ovulates. I say to them this is useless, you’ll have to get at it every second night!” I was running along beside him — he was very tall — agreeing there was a dreadful lack of commitment among the young nowadays and, as he said, they would just have to “get at it”.
When I think of the efforts all our young people have made to be better educated, work for longer before starting a family, paying huge mortgages, my sympathy is with them. If they need help with infertility treatment it should be freely given to them by the society to whom they have given so much. The social changes brought about by our changed economic state should be carefully monitored.
Senator Mary Henry, MD
