Do kids think of sperm donors as family? | Veerle Provoost

How do we define a parent -- or a family? Bioethicist Veerle Provoost explores these questions in the context of non-traditional families, ones brought together by adoption, second marriages, surrogate mothers and sperm donations. In this talk, she shares stories of how parents and children create their own family narratives.

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[trixie]

I was adopted as an infant. My parents always let me know I was adopted from an early age and mad me okay with it. I'm in my 50's now, and the people who adopted me and raised me have always been my only parents.

[derka]

I don't understand all the dislikes and negative comments. Alternative families are a serious topic and it significantly influences the lives of people that are raised in them, i should know since i'm adopted. Adopted children deserve to know their biological family/background (if they so choose), and children who are born from sperm donation also deserve to know their biological family/background (if they so choose). The psychological impact that alternative families have on their members is significant, and it's sad to see so many dislikes on a topic like this because people don't have the patience for ethical philosophy, or they don't watch the video because they immediately disregard it as feminist, liberal, SJW, propaganda, or some other thing

[ms.knowledgeall]

I was adopted from alcoholic parents and given better life. That's how I see my own life and not concentrated on the people around me.

[Chidds]

I can't stand most of the recent social -engineering- "justice" presentations TED has been publishing, but I thought this presentation was very interesting and informative. It just seems like small minded idiots lumping it into the same category and disliking it out of hand.

[cedarbobedar]

I rate the comments on this video 3/10. Trolls are spongey and pallid, and the overall tone just screams, "Trolling feels like woooork why can't I just fling feces like I do in real life?"

[autumnx]

"what is a parent?" "its not an easy question" i beg to differ! a parent is someone who treats you as their own child, the person who raises you, looks after you, picks you up when you fall over, teaches you valuable life lessons. that was easy.

[jeao]

I remember watching ted and I would find really cool things but this is boring :/

[simoko]

It depends what the mother tells the kid.

[jakeparkhurst]

Ultimately she says to be honest with whatever "small human" your trying to raise. Dishonesty ultimately crestes a negative bonding between offspring an parent.... whether it be biological or not... which i suppose ultimately means our children are way smarter than we give them credit for lol

[DigitalWraith]

😒 *So when will TED do a talk called "Do kids think of egg donors as family?"* 😒

[CodeLeeCarter]

Tell them the Truth. what other way is there.

[ablanchi]

TIL: Bioethics is the most boring thing iv ever heard of.

[chloemchugh]

I'm know my biological dad but not the egg donor. I would like to meet the person who donated the eggs as they share DNA but I don't consider her my mother.

[Desiree_Draws]

this makes me want to cry I love my mom, and I'm proud to be a AI child.

[KleineDiva]

Her advice to create your own family narrative and just let your child know how much it is loved is great! People tend to drive themselves crazy by trying to be perfect and doing everything tight, so listening to your intuition and worrying less when it comes to your family seems like a sound plan. Parents are the people who lovingly raise a child, regardless of whether they're genetically related to the kid.

[wigoow]

Every kid has three fathers. A legal one, a biological one and a social one. In the best case that is one person. But claiming to be the biological father, if you are not, is igonorant.

[aleenasaha]

More women should consider sperm banks especially ones who have had traumatic experiences with men and do not want to coparent. More men should donate if they know they are not good partners. -a feminist perspective

[vitalliao]

If the kid grow up may he wonder why my appearance are totally looking different to my parents. That would be awkward..

[Shockguey]

"I'm a philosopher"
Okay
"So I asked children some abstract questions"
HAHAHAHA

[TM-uiwx]

I'm not a kid, but I think of all my sperm donors as family.