A two-year-old girl from Sheffield could give birth to her own half-siblings when she is older, using her mother’s frozen eggs.
The extraordinary situation would mean when the girl, who was born infertile, grows up, her future husband would be fertilising his mother-in-law’s egg.
Penny Jarvis, the girl’s mother, wants to freeze her own eggs for her daughter to use in any future IVF pregnancy.
Bewilderment
Josephine Quintavalle, of the group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said one could “fully understand” the mother’s sadness at her daughter’s situation, but she said: “I do not think putting her own eggs in the freezer is either a practical or an ethical solution”.
Mrs Quintavalle continued: “One has to think of the implications for any hypothetical child born of such inter-generational donation.
“The complexities of these relationships are often impossible to unravel.
“Psychologists are already talking about the trauma of genealogical bewilderment, as egg and sperm donation and surrogacy create more and more artificial conceptions.”
Turner Syndrome
The girl, Mackenzie, has Turner Syndrome and does not have any ovaries. She could however carry an unborn child made from a donated egg.
Mackenzie requires a daily dose of growth hormone, is partially deaf and uses sign language to communicate.
Miss Jarvis, along with her partner, Karl Stephens, are both full time carers for her.
Complications
Further ethical complications arising from any children born to Mackenzie from Miss Jarvis’ eggs would be that the baby’s aunts and uncles would also be its half-brothers and sisters.
A spokesman for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said the procedure was allowed in this country. The organisation has launched a consultation to gauge public opinion on the point.
The spokesman also said it would be important for both mother and daughter to be given appropriate counselling if the procedure was fulfilled.
Eggs can be frozen for 10 years in normal circumstances, although that time period can be exceeded.
‘Strange’
In November a 50-year-old woman in Mexico gave birth to her own grandchild after she stepped in as a surrogate to carry her homosexual son’s baby.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, said her son Jorge was yearning for a baby so she offered him the use of her womb.
But the woman admitted she felt “strange” because she didn’t feel like a mother or a grandmother.