Jennifer Cramblett, 36, and her wife Amanda Zinkon, 29, got
married in NYC in 2011 and a few days later Jennifer was artificially inseminated
with sperm from a white donor they picked from the Midwest Sperm Bank in Illinois.
Five months later in April 2012 the couple called to reserve more sperm to
later conceive a sibling for their child
when they were informed that Jennifer had been inseminated with sperm from a
black donor (#330) instead of the white donor they had chosen (#380).
It has been stated by her that upon hearing the news the excitement
of being pregnant was replaced with "anger, disappointment and fear.”
While they have every right to be upset with the sperm bank this opens up an
even more sensitive topic… are they upset the bank messed up, or are they upset
the bank messed up and gave them a bi-racial child?
As a lesbian couple they should first hand know what it is
like to experience prejudice. They have said they love their two year old daughter
Payton just the same but are concerned about raising her in a predominantly
white neighborhood. A therapist has suggested they move to a more racially
diverse area for Payton’s sake. Plus Jennifer has concerns about how her "all-white,
and often unconsciously insensitive family” will treat Payton. Having moved to
Uniontown to be in a better school system and closer to Jennifer’s family they
now have to decide if this is the right environment to raise their daughter in.
Still when you see that they are seeking punitive damages it
makes you wonder if they are truly concerned for other people’s outcomes when
working with this clinic or if they feel a dollar amount can compensate for the
fact that they now have a bi-racial child they must raise for the rest of her
life. Then to top it off they came to know this while expressing interest in
having more kids so do they now have all bi-racial babies or do they go with
their original desire to have a child as white as themselves?
Though they allude to that fact that they are suing not only
because they want the clinic to switch from manual to electronic data entry to
prevent further mishaps, but that since they now have to move they needs funds
to proceed with that as well.
While I would like to believe this stems from a genuine
concern for the clinics mal practice something can’t help but sit in the back
of my mind saying they are just mad they have a bi-racial child now. Coming
from a lesbian couple it seems very contradicting, how can someone who is gay
be racist? Jennifer has said that as a lesbian she has felt the sting of
prejudice but doesn't know what it's like to be mistreated because of skin
color. So can she empathize with her daughter or does part of her resent her
daughter?
Now the little girl is genetically 50% of Jennifer’s DNA,
Payton is her biological daughter. From looks to personality she will have characteristics
of her mother. Still when Jennifer looks at her daughter will she see the
daughter she dreamt of having, or a mistake?
How would you feel? While we could reverse the situation, make
it a black lesbian couple who was inseminated with a white man’s sperm instead
of black man to end up having a bi-racial child, they would still have a child
that looks ethnic like they do. Which is why I can’t help but feel part of the
problem is that the child looks black and they are white. Maybe they have every
right to be mad. They paid for a product that would affect their lives and now
are stuck with the outcome which is not the one they paid for.
"She's going to know what she is and where she came
from and how all this happened. She's going to know that we love her
unconditionally. Everybody around her loves her. So, I think she's going to
know why we did what we did."
I would like to believe Jennifer and Amanda love their
daughter all the same because no matter what that is Jennifer’s flesh and blood.
None the less this is tricky situation that should make you think about a whole
lot. If the sperm had been swapped with another white man’s sperm would there
be a lawsuit going on now? Do we blame them for being mad they did not receive what
they were expecting to? Or in the bigger picture, do we blame our society that
has ingrained such views of races that has made some not want to be associated
with others based of the stereotypes that will ensue?
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