The Lesbian Future

There was an article in the Times Online yesterday about how the Y chromosome seems to be fading out, and that eventually men may cease to exist. But here's the exciting part of the article: scientists think that it will soon be possible to have a baby between two women, so they don't think that the human population would cease if there were no more men. It’s been done with mice, by manipulating bone marrow, and though the offspring have been 20% smaller than average, scientists think they can fix that.

A quote from the article:

A surprising number of animals can reproduce without male involvement if there is no other option. Sharks and lizards have demonstrated this ability in captivity. It was previously believed that the process was impossible in mammals such as humans because male sperm cells and female egg cells undergo a process called imprinting. In imprinting, sections of each cell’s genome are silenced to allow the set of genes from the other parent to be expressed, so that when the egg and sperm cells combine, the genes in the resulting embryo are not competing with each other. It has now been discovered that it is possible to interrupt this process by deleting just two sections of genetic material on the genomes of female mice – animals very similar, for reproductive purposes, to humans…


Elsewhere, producing a child that is the genetic offspring of two females is becoming a real possibility – and the process is not nearly as difficult as was previously thought. Artificial sperm produced from bone-marrow cells has already led to pregnancies and live births in mice. Last summer a Japanese team announced that female mice had been made pregnant using cells from other females, and given birth to completely healthy babies…Their message is that there is nothing unique provided by the male in sexual reproduction – only properly imprinted chromosomes for the production of a new human baby.

The prospect of having a baby with a wife makes me ecstatic. The thought that one day I may be able to have a baby with another woman and have it be entirely ours is so thrilling — an unknown sperm donor would not be necessary anymore.

Also making me excited? This passage: “The affluent Pennine community, with its smart delicatessens and organic grocers, has become an unlikely centre for Britain’s burgeoning community of lesbian families. Up to one in five of the population of 13,000 is a gay woman. Lesbian couples own many of the bars, restaurants, galleries and other businesses… Although other large cities have significant gay populations, the concentration in Hebden Bridge is probably greater than anywhere else in the UK. And it is getting bigger. In Marie’s antenatal yoga classes last year, no fewer than 4 out of 10 of the other mothers were part of lesbian couples.”

Apparently Britain is teeming with lesbians! Who knew? I was part of “gay club” during my tenure in Scotland, and the group consisted mainly of cute British boys and my friends from Smith. There were almost no British lesbians to be found in the hamlet of St. Andrews, but that’s because they’ve been in northern England all along. This has just given me extra incentive to make the AP hire me and put me on the UK desk. And there’s more: “The social trend that we are witnessing indicates many more women than expected could be migrating towards lesbianism.” That’s it. Bags are packed.