For the second time in recent years, a sperm bank accidentally gave a white lesbian couple sperm from a black man instead of a white one they requested.
In each case, both ironically happening in 2012, the mistake was not discovered until the baby was born.
In the UK, a couple sued the largest London sperm bank for accidentally using sperm from a black man.
Ironically, that same year, an Ohio woman, Jennifer Cramblett and her partner Amanda Zinkon welcomed a gorgeous bi-racial daughter, Payton, who Cramblett birthed. Only thing, there too, the bank did not inseminate the white male subject the couple had carefully selected.
According to Cramblett’s suit, the bank uses handwritten notes that are susceptible to misreading.
The suit alleges that although they love Payton, it will be too challenging to raise her in an all-whte union town that is intolerant and prejudiced against African Americans.
Court papers also point out that Cramblett never knew any African-Americans until she went to college.
“Because of this background and upbringing, Jennifer acknowledges her limited cultural competency relative to African-Americans and steep learning curve, particularly in small, homogenous Uniontown, which she regards as too racially intolerant,” the suit states.
I agree with those who say that Cramblett has a right to receive some sort of redress because she and her partner did not sign up to have to deal with all the crap that biracial and other people of color, including white parents to bi-racial kids have to endure.
Think about what she is asking the court to rule on.
If the court were to decide in her favor, in its reasoning, it would have to find that prejudice, bias and racial discrimination do make life in America tougher for people of color.
In that decision, we would also have a court or jury essentially recognizing that life as a Caucasian in America is without the same level of hardship and that there is a certain level of skin privilege that all enjoy, irrespective of where they fall on the socioeconomic wealth line.
It just sucks way more to not be white, a court would have to rule.
In the UK case, one half of the lesbian couple is infamously quoted as saying, “All we wanted was a family. Instead, we were landed with a nightmare that will last forever.”
Some people assumed she was talking about the child, but not really. The nightmare she was referring to then was having to go through life exposed to and stressed out over the various injustices colored Brits endure. Who wants that hassle? (sarcasm)
Back to the Ohio case.
Finally, Cramblett is also asking the court to rule that the white people who live in her community are prejudiced and racist, generally, as a whole. There is no room (or time) for a court to interview her entire town to make that determination on an individual basis, so a court would just take Cramblett’s word for it and determine that small predominantly white rural towns are anti-black and anti-biracial people.
I think of all the people I’ve seen defending this latest couple in the comment section on this story and wonder if they really agree with her on that last point — the one where she is saying that generally, small town white Americans who have never been in contact with people of color in all their lives implicitly can not look at them as their equals and will default to being racist and prejudiced?
Now don’t you think that’s messed up?
photo: compliments NBC