re: #116 ggt

If you had an adopted mother and a father? What if you were born in a laboratory —or to a a paid surrogate and then sent to a facility with other kids like you?

I think it would be very weird to know that at some point I was not “made” the old-fashioned way —egg and sperm. That there were people out there withwhom I shared genetic mateial—sort of.

Being adopted and being a clone would be about the same as being adopted and not being a clone, I imagine. My concern would be that people would clone people for stupid, potentially damaging reasons. Right now, IIRC, there’s some businesses that will clone your cat for you. But you don’t get YOUR late cat back, you get a clone. They don’t necessarily have the same fur markings. They don’t have the same experiences. They do not grow up into the same cat.

Now the cat doesn’t give a damn, it’s a cat. But a human child, cloned to replace a beloved family member—I can see how a person might screw a kid up pretty good with something like that.

Also, we have a means of reproduction, one that doesn’t run the risk of shortened life span, and mixes genes for increased gene pool health while we’re at it. What would the point of starting to clone extensively be?