December 2, 2013

I hate stupid questions...

and I knew they would fly fast and furious when acquaintances started seeing Delivery Man.  It made me cringe to hear the plot. Not because I feared it could be true but because I knew that only a very small minority understand that movies are made-up stories.
Wouldn't it be funny if...?   is only funny to people who have no idea what they are talking about and won't be thinking about it (or anything else) in 24 hours, much less the rest of their lives.

Recently, someone asked if  I lived in fear of inbreeding.  Inbreeding?  Who says that?  What a giant leap the mind makes when using Hollywood to fill in the details of something one knows nothing about.  Instead of finding a reputable source of information, like the New England Cryogenic Center or the Mayo Clinic, please just go to the nearest multiplex and let screenwriters educate you while your fingers are in a giant tub of popcorn.  Then, ask your neighborhood SMC if she is worried that her children have 500 siblings.  

I'm not, nor have I ever been, concerned about this issue.  
"Considering the probability of pregnancy using frozen sperm — 20 to 30 percent and the probability of successful pregnancy with a live birth v10 percent — it would take a minimum of 1,250 vials of sperm to 'make' 500 children... No sperm bank would allow a donor to donate that many specimens over a several year period of time....There would have to be a total breakdown of any policies and procedures, lack of quality control and checks and balances, and certainly [a] lack of honest management for this to occur in real life,..Not only would a person or persons be fired, but the facility would also be closed. Such a facility would not survive the industry."  --Dr. Grace M. Centola, Ph.D. H.C.L.D., (AAB)
The thing is, I couldn't care less about Vince Vaughn and his movies  Maybe Delivery Man is amusing.  Maybe it's not--I'll never know.  I'm just offended that people assume they know how my family works just because they have watched a 104 minute Dreamworks' movie.

Note:  I understand there is a reality series called Generation Cryo on MTV which follows a teen as she searches for the other children conceived by the same donor her mothers chose.  I have not watched it; nor will I at this time, however, judging from the reviews I would not discourage my boys from doing so when they are older.

5 comments:

  1. Movies like this upset me because it makes our families look like freak shows, and that having children in this way is somehow socially irresponsible. Nobody would question if this happens in real life or not - they'd just assume our kids have 500 half siblings. Makes my blood boil.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I cringed when I saw a preview for the movie. I think it may give those of us that are SMCs a bad rap.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What about women who have children to various father's (that the children have no involvement with) - most unplanned; I bet people never dare question those mother's on their 'choices'... Try not to let such uneducated tossers wind you up sweetie. You owe NO ONE an explanation. Lots of movies give all types of situations bad names and anyone who takes it as gospel are sad.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm with you on this one...though I have heard the movie is good, it bothers me that people just assume this means my daughter must have 500 siblings too or start asking me insane questions. A healthy curiosity about our beginnings is one thing...but don't be stupid!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have NO desire to see this movie but I can say that about just about any Vince Vaughn movie recently.

    And I love the "don't you worry about them having a relationship with a half sibling" question. NO I am not because my kid will know about her genetics! Also thinking to small town America where everyone married the 'girl-next-door' - Did it ever occur to anyone that there was infidelity and the 'girl-next-door' might be the half sister next door??

    ReplyDelete