What do you think of someone doing this?

Robin Boyd 1212

Being your own parent...hmmmmm...a new take on the old "inner child" school of pop psychology. I think John Bradshaw would probably like the idea of re-parenting himself. Then perhaps the clone could clone and parent himself and then that clone could do the same. Now that would be a trip! Maybe the parent in like the fifteenth or the twenty-third clone generation would finally get it right. Wouldn't that be awesome?

Unknown Brain 1892

I think it's whacked.

I'm trying to think of an elequant way of putting this... But....
It would take the whole point out of getting laid!!

Andrea McKenzie 1337

Didn't Jango Fett do this? Boba turned out pretty good. Although, you know what? I'd totally do it. I'd want to see how I'd turn out raised differently. Can't really pinpoint a right or wrong on this one. I guess it'd be the same as all cloning. :P Is cloning at all right or wrong?

Alexander Baggett 1750

I'm not so sure about right or wrong. But I'm sure that raising a clone of myself might be in some ways easier and harder than raising regular children. If for some reason I couldn't get children normally. I wouldn't mind doing something like cloning myself and raising him. I don't consider it strange, messed up, or cool. I just think if possible it would be just another option.

Unknown Brain 1353

There is no Right & Wrong

Jonathan Burley 2375

Dunno - it's a bit of an odd idea. I think it would be a very disturbing experience for the "parent", cos you'd probably be doing the cloning for reasons revolving around the kid being an improved you; and if the kid starts acting like a complete shit or doesn't act like a genius that'll eclipse you in every way then disappointment will set in. And the general expectations of the clones would probably be unrealistic.


On the relevant facts front, we can't fix the telomeres issue in cloning. Simply put, telomeres are a biological clock (probably) - when you are born there is a length of telomere on the end of each chromosome and each time your cells divide the telomere length is cut slightly. Stuff starts going wrong as your telomeres get short [this is not to say that telomeres *cause* aging, (otherwise we might say that wrinkles and arthritis are often seen together and thus wrinkles give you arthritis) but it is a working theory that has considerable support]. The issue is that clones are born with the same telomere length as their source... Meaning that the clone has a body clock of a 35 year old when said clone is an infant. Simplified explanation but 'tis the gist of the problem.

Part of the reason human cloning is illegal and immoral is that we expect nasty shit to wrong in the clones. If 40 year old mothers (who are otherwise healthy) have triple the risk of Down's syndrome kids then lord knows what cloning will cause...



Ignoring morals, ethics, mental health and all that jazz and thinking solely with my survivalist hat... Cloning replicates you exactly, if you clone repeatedly that is a population of identical you's. An entire group with no variation in immune system, which is just asking to get fucked over by some virus. Increased variety in the population is considered a major driving force behind sexual reproduction, cloning (en mass) would reduce this variety and is thus a bad thing.

However, if I liked standing on thin ice and being accused of eugenics... Cloning would probably only be affordable to the most filthy richest people, if one assumes the uber-rich to be life's winners then increasing their genetic footprint by cloning is not a bad thing. (But in counter, the uber-rich are often very dominant personalities as required by beating off rivals to their job/business. That is not necessarily a good thing to spread in the population)

Drop a comment on anything if you want to!

Unknown Brain 1830

I would say the idea is pretty cool, and see no problem with it so long as it does not become a widespread practice.

For those with religious objections to this- If you believe in God, and that God created all of mankind, then you must therefore also believe that all of our abilities and unique characteristics come from God. There is much talk of 'spiritual gifts' and their ilk in religious circles. I would say that the greatest ability our species has would be our brains. From that angle, a religious person could see all science and technology as having come from God. That would include clones.

Religious debates aside, I don't really see any moral or ethical qualms regarding this- most issues people have with cloning tend to have to do with what the purpose of the clone is.

I can understand moral issues with cloning humans and then treating the clone as inhuman, performing experiments on it, and denying it basic human rights.

In the case of cloning for the purpose of raising offspring, though, I don't see any moral problems.

The only issue I see with it is the lack of genetic diversity- genetic diversity is paramount to a species ability to survive in changing conditions, fortify itself against infections, etc.

If the practice of cloning for reproduction became widespread, it could potentially cause disaster, as it leaves the whole concept of natural selection and favoring of "stronger" genes.

As we are now, our genetic diversity isn't a major issue, as most problems can be solved through medicine and technology. However, there are still diseases out there that we cannot cure, there have been terrible plagues in the past, and natural disasters (such as the potential for another ice age, if you believe those sources). To survive the worst of these as a species, we'll need that ongoing genetic diversity to ensure that some people, somewhere, have the right makeup to resist infection, survive harsh conditions, etc.

Unknown Brain 1556

Belief in God has nothing to do with it.
Belief in the Soul has nothing to do with it.

It is possible, it is viable, and in some cases it is the answer a pair of parents would seek.

That is, some will choose to bring a life into the world. Is that such a bad thing as to condemn it, ever, even in the case of a clone? Who cares what genetic material the kid has, it's a kid and the parents wanted it. Good for them.

That's all that matters. A God, or a notion of the Soul, that says otherwise is contradictory with the notion of loving humanity and shouldn't even enter in to it.

Lynne Lefler 1950

I believe in God.

I believe God gave us free will.

I believe God knows whether or not it is, or in the future will be, possible to clone healthy humans.

Like any other human activity, I believe there are people who act out of healthy motives, and people who act out of unhealthy motives. There are people who believe in excess; others who believe in scarcity; and still others who believe in moderation. There are "good" motives and "evil" motives.

If it is or will become possible to clone humans, I don't think that in itself is wrong. It is merely another tool in the medical toolkit.

There could be many infertile couples whose dreams of raising a family could only be made possible through cloning. That could definitely be a very good thing.

Cloned babies will still survive ONLY if God imbues them with a life-force. Cloned humans are still created by God, otherwise, they are not viable cellular organisms. Life itself originates with God.

There could be people who cloned babies for all kinds of wrong-headed reasons, and that would be a very bad thing. Heck...there are people who generate babies the natural way that have their children for all kinds of wrong-headed reasons. Society goes on, in spite of all that.

It's what individual people chose to do with that advance in medical science that will be either good or bad. Cloning is not bad or evil in itself. It is merely a scientific and medical process.

If an infertile woman were to have herself cloned, her daughter would also be infertile, unless the mother's infertility came about as the result of some damage done to her reproductive organs after she was born.

I think that an entire population made up of generations of cloned individuals might degenerate genetically and be more prone to physical and mental diseases, etc. A few of the many advantages to genetic diversity are: a greater likelihood of a healthy pool of breeding pairs, a greater chance of a favorable adaptation to changes in the environment, and a stronger, more versatile population.

Because of my current age, by the time human cloning is an established practice, I would not be considered a viable "vessel" to carry a baby to term. If I were 30 or 40 years younger, I would perhaps consider it if I wanted children, but were unable to conceive them in the traditional way.

It is a moot point for me personally. I gave birth to two healthy girls years ago...using the natural, time-tested methods of conception, gestation, and birthing.

Jenna Morgenthaler 1294

You would have to think very highly of yourself to make another one. I think when we get to cloning people, parents will want a doner, because most of us think that others are prettier, smarter, etc.