Evening star., 1938-09-13
GENE REGISTER
PLANNED HERE
ChiIdIess Couples Could
Select Father, Never .
Knowing His Identity.
By THOMAS r. HENRY.

ny 1HOMAS n. nLNn1.
A register Of male gene donors. to
be made up partly of college football
players and hospital internes. and
whose function will be to make posi-
BILE by scientific methods children to
childless wives whose husbands are
sterile or afflicted with hereditary dis
eases, now is being established In
Washington.
This was announced before the post
graduate clinic of the Georgetown
University Medical School yesterday
by DR.. Ivy Pelman of the George
town faculty.
The register is being established, it
was made clear, by q group OF private
physicians engaged in this type Of
practice and will have no connection
with any local institution.
Already such registers are in opera
ton in New York, Boston, Philadelphia
and Chicago, Dr. Pelzman revealed, but
their existence generally has been un-
known except to limited groups Of
doctors.
Similar to Blood Donors.
The registers are very similar In
principle to the registers Of profess
sional blood donors which have been
kept by most hospitals for the past
10 years, so that a person with the
proper type Of blood could be obtained
Immediately for a TRANSMISSION in case
of emergency.
The method followed will be pre-
cisely the same in principle as that
followed in the artificial enSemination
of race horses and blooded cattle which
has now reached the stage where .
single desirable sire can be made the
father of colts and calves born even
in another continent. This stage has
not yet been reached with human
beings. however. and it is necessary
to have the unknown fathers in the
same community in order to be assured
OF results. Eventually it may be pos
sible to develop the method to the
point where gene banks" can be es-
tablished at hospitals similar to the
blood bank now in operation at Gal
linger Hospital
In order to qualify for the register
one must be of absolutely untainted
ancestry for several generations. be
free Of any diseased conditions which
could possibly be transmitted and,
generally speaking, must be Of splen-
did physique, Of known genetic con-
stitution. handsome, Of good intelli-
gence, and good moral character.
Prospective gene donors will be
classified according to stature. color
Of eyes and hair, nationality, etc. The
register will be absolutely secret, except
to the small group Of physicians.
How Register Works.
A childless wife wishing to become
mother will aquaint her physician
with the kinds of qualities she wishes
in a child Then somebody will be
selected from the register most likely
to transmit these qualities, although
the genetic constitution Of man is 50
complex that very little can be guar
anteed
Then, to avoid possible legal COM
plicationS, the written consent of both
husband and wife must be obtained.
The mother will never see or know
the name Of the father or her child
and even the slightest suspicion on
her part would cause the whole trans
action to be ended. She will never
be closer to him than the next ONCE,
which he will enter and leave with
the greatest secrecy. No mother will
be allowed to express any preference
for father of her offspring, since.
the doctors fear, this might lead to
future emotional entanglements and
possibly the blackmail and even suits
over inheritance from the father. The
gene donors will be we'll paid for their
services.
This type of practice is on the in
crease, as are also the number Of
childless marriages, 1t was revealed.
Football players frequently are asked
as the prospective artificial fathers
and some may earn q considerable
income In this way. The selection,
however. is always matter for the
physician. Many childless couples,
DR.. Pelman said, prefer this method
to adoption of children concerning
whose heredity they never can be
sure.
In other cities, it was reported to
the Georgetown clinic, these gene
donor registers have proved an un-
qualified success. It will be only q
matter OF time, it was said, when such
. register will be made up In every
large community. They have become