If she is married to a man and they, like the great majority of married couples, invest energy, love, and commitment in the child, the child is likely to do well. My argument is that the structure of the family a child is born into is more important than the sexual process by which the child is produced. If Leon Kass and other opponents of cloning think that sexuality is more important than families, they should object to any form of assisted reproduction that does not involve parental coition. Many such forms now exist. Children are adopted by parents who did not give them birth.
Artificial insemination produces children without sexual congress.
Some forms of such insemination rely on sperm produced by a man other than the woman s husband, while other forms involve the artificial insemination of a surrogate mother who will relinquish the baby to a married couple. By in vitro fertilization, eggs and sperm can be joined in a Petri dish and then transferred into the woman s uterus. I have mixed views about assisted reproduction. Some forms I endorse, others I worry about, still others I oppose. Assisted reproduction, whether by artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization, is now relatively common.