Reality TV Shows running out of juice.....

[Makhno]

Sperm race new reality TV concept
23 JUL 2004
By Lisa Bjorksten, NEWS.com.au

A NEW reality TV show in the UK could see a thousand men compete for the chance to father a child. The producers behind Britain's successful Big Brother series are devising a concept called Make me a mum that would feature men competing to father a child and take part in a "sperm race".

The format for the program is still under discussion, but the idea is one certain to spark controversy and anger.

Over six episodes of Make Me A Mum, the brainchild of a part of the Endemol TV empire, 1000 male contestants would be whittled down to a final pair by using two criteria. For the first, the childless woman will choose the man she considers the most suitable father based on sex appeal, intelligence, personality, wealth and fitness. The second man would be chosen according to genetic compatibility and the quality of his sperm.

New German technology would film the "sperm race finale", giving viewers a chance to see which of the finalists' sperm reaches the female's egg first.

Fertility groups have condemned the show before it has even reached TV screens.

The TV company's creative director Remy Blumenfeld told UK's Broadcast magazine: "There's a tremendous amount of science to this show.

"It's completely fascinating. It's much more about the rule of science than the rules of attraction."

It is not clear whether the programme would feature artificial fertilisation or whether the participants would have sex, according to the UK's Evening Standard. It was stressed that men taking part would be screened for sexually transmitted diseases.

The Evening Standard reports a spokeswoman from Channel 4, which broadcasts Big Brother in the UK, said: "There are currently no plans to make this for Channel 4."

 

[wilde]

because it is never real.

 

[Makhno]

Watch for the markaeting machine to spin off related consumer products...

 

[Commander Chode]

There has to be a bottom to the bucket. Please let them scrape it soon.

 

[sirlickheralot]

Sperm race new reality TV concept
For the first, the childless woman will choose the man she considers the most suitable father based on sex appeal, intelligence, personality, wealth and fitness. The second man would be chosen according to genetic compatibility and the quality of his sperm.

Who'd want to intentionally get struck making child support payments to some woman they barely even know.

 

[pegg'd]

This one sounds like something they found UNDER the bucket

 

[Makhno]

Court rules sperm donor must pay child support despite verbal agreement
Canadian Press
Sunday, July 25, 2004

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled that a verbal agreement between a woman and her sperm donor was invalid, and ordered the man to pay child support for the woman's twins.

The three-judge panel ruled Thursday that the deal between Joel McKiernan and Ivonne Ferguson - in which McKiernan donated his sperm and would not be obligated to pay any support - was unenforceable because of "legal, equitable and moral principles."

Despite an agreement that appeared to be a binding contract, the father is obligated to provide financial support, the court decided.

"It is the interest of the children we hold most dear,"' wrote Senior Judge Patrick Tamalia.

McKiernan's lawyer said he may appeal.

The decision could have implications for sperm and egg donors who expect anonymity, said Arthur Caplan, a professor and medical ethicist at the University of Pennsylvania.

"Anybody who is a sperm donor ought to understand that their identity could be made known to any child that's produced, and they could be seen by the courts as the best place to go to make sure the child has adequate financial support," he said Friday.

According to the trial judge's opinion, Ferguson and McKiernan met while working together and had a two-year affair. The relationship waned by late 1993, when Ferguson convinced McKiernan to act as a sperm donor with no responsibility for any child born as a result, the opinion said.

McKiernan, who has paid up to $1,520 US a month in support since losing the case at trial, said he was not pleased with the ruling, but declined to comment further.

Ferguson's lawyer, Elizabeth Hoffman, said there was never evidence of an agreement between the two in which McKiernan would not have to pay any support.

"There was no evidence except his word and her word and it was a matter of credibility," she said.