gedanken experiment

After watching a recent episode of Nip/Tuck where Wilbur's father finally found the strength to take him home and face his wife of 30 years with a child from a one-night stand, my husband asked me what my reaction would be if I was to be in that man's wife's position and he were in Wilbur's father's. [Wilbur was supposed to have been Troy's son though as it turned he out wasn't, but was fathered by another man]

Hmmm... well that would depend I think on whether we had children at that time. If we did then I would most likely forgive him.

If not then I'm not so sure. Considering that I'm postponing my childbearing until after he'd finish his studies, since most of my money is going towards his not insubstantial fees - this year it's £13k - if in the end I find I cannot have children due to the fact that I've waited too long but he then went and found some other woman to impregnate... that might be a little difficult to forgive.

According to my life plan, at this stage I would have had at least my first child and perhaps my 2nd or 3rd. Very likely a nanny to help look after. In this plan of course both myself and my husband would be working, and that both our salaries should be at a similar level - if his is higher I won't complain. From this point on, all I would have had to worry about would how to bring up the children properly, private school fees (because the british schools are too dumbed down to be of any benefit to any of its pupils but the most challenged), and of course the mortgage, and perhaps a property and shares investment portfolio.

I think I've had to shift my plans by at least 5 years. Let's hope all the organic food is indeed keeping the free radicals at bay.

perpetuating genes

Back again after a hiatus of a few months - for some reason there was not much time to write for a while. It has been a hectic few months, sometimes going on holiday is quite tiring. This week at least when I got back, I was quite relieved to be in the office, getting my life back to its normal routine.

Saw that there has been some comments in my absence, recommending some interesting courses of action. Though not having children is very tempting, the thought of my genes terminating with me is not. Obviously the primary reason to have children is to ensure that your genetic material gets propagated, and not only your genes but also your way of thinking and beliefs. In fact by that argument, anyone who does not have children is a failure regardless of how "successful" s/he may be thought of by society. Ten thousand years down the line, no one will remember who I am, but my genes will still code my movements and features, perhaps even my brain patterns, into my descendants.

The most successful person therefore - and this is the criteria for most of evolution in the animal world, and our evolution also - is the one who has the most children, so being a sperm donor could arguably be the best strategy. Unfortunately, being a woman, my option of donating eggs is rather more difficult, and involves complicated procedures of hormone manipulation.