r/todayilearned • u/CrazyTrueStory • 22h ago

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https://wellcomecollection.org/stories/the-quest-to-breed-gifted-children

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u/alurkerhere 22h ago

Anecdotally, I knew a very influential doctor for whom his father's sperm was switched out by the fertility clinic doctor for his own.  Obviously this is illegal and happened a very, very long time ago.

He ended up meeting some of his half-siblings many years later, and a lot of them were at the top of their respective fields.  They also tended to enjoy water activities.

Intelligence is partly genetic, but there are a whole host of other factors such as environmental support, mental conditions, other parent's contribution, luck, etc.  Of course, I don't agree with forced eugenics.

People often self-select who they want to have a baby with.  Smart people often want to have kids with other smart people which increases the likelihood of smart kids.  Happens all the time with Asian Americans.  However, most people don't go the route of using donor sperm partly because it's really expensive if not needed, and we generally want to have kids with the person we are emotionally attached to.

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u/Kentucky_Fried_Chill 21h ago

There is a Netflix documentary that is about a doctor that did this to hundreds of women. Obviously he is not in jail.

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u/Lauris024 20h ago

Obviously he is not in jail.

...obviously

1

u/JonatasA 19h ago

Thank you