By Stephen Kunk►
Dr. Norman Barwin, owner and operator
of a fertility clinic in Ottawa, Canada, has been accused of using
his own sperm to inseminate clients without their knowledge or
consent. As a result, he is now the biological father of at least ten
children. While this "mistake" has led to a lawsuit and
public outcry, Dr. Barwin has succeeded in clearing up an enduring
debate in the application of evolutionary theory to human sexual
psychology.
The evolutionary perspective on human sexual behavior has spawned two theoretical paradigms: sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. Sociobiology suggested that human reproduction, as for other animals, is based by and large upon an impulse to maximize reproductive fitness. An organism's evolutionary success, then, can be measured by the extent to which its genes are replicated in the subsequent generation. Simply put, the goal is to sow as many wild oats as possible, by any means necessary.
Evolutionary psychology took a more measured approach. Here, fitness maximization is not seen as the evolutionary goal for humans, as there is no singular approach that maximizes fitness across ages, environments and, perhaps most crucially, sexes. Moreover, ev psych recognizes the need for ensuring the care and well-being of the products of reproduction—also known as children. Children are, after all, their parents’ gene-vehicles, and with that in mind, ev psych acknowledges that parenting is not without evolutionary benefits. Is it not more adaptive for a human male to raise two children effectively than to have ten children from ten different mothers whom he hardly knows and never checks in on? Ev psych says it is, and this is part of the reason it has been the dominant paradigm in understanding the evolutionary roots of human behavior.
The evolutionary perspective on human sexual behavior has spawned two theoretical paradigms: sociobiology and evolutionary psychology. Sociobiology suggested that human reproduction, as for other animals, is based by and large upon an impulse to maximize reproductive fitness. An organism's evolutionary success, then, can be measured by the extent to which its genes are replicated in the subsequent generation. Simply put, the goal is to sow as many wild oats as possible, by any means necessary.
Evolutionary psychology took a more measured approach. Here, fitness maximization is not seen as the evolutionary goal for humans, as there is no singular approach that maximizes fitness across ages, environments and, perhaps most crucially, sexes. Moreover, ev psych recognizes the need for ensuring the care and well-being of the products of reproduction—also known as children. Children are, after all, their parents’ gene-vehicles, and with that in mind, ev psych acknowledges that parenting is not without evolutionary benefits. Is it not more adaptive for a human male to raise two children effectively than to have ten children from ten different mothers whom he hardly knows and never checks in on? Ev psych says it is, and this is part of the reason it has been the dominant paradigm in understanding the evolutionary roots of human behavior.
Dr. Barwin's personal project, however,
has restored hope for the sociobiological approach and fitness
maximization. Barwin has used his adept understanding of genetics and
evolution to his evolutionary advantage. He succeeded in creating an
environment in which he was able to scrutinize not just women but
also their male partners for reproductive fitness and parental
capability. With that mechanism in place, he then subbed in his own
sperm to impregnate the most viable customers. This allowed him to produce
double-digit offspring without any time investment in parenting the
offspring, who were, in effect, raised by cuckolds—and efficaciously,
at that. Judging from their photos, Barwin's children turned out to
be highly viable themselves, ready and able to carry the good doctor's genes
into yet another generation.
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| Dr. Barwin and one among his alleged bio-daughters |
Barwin's efforts,
then, have led to a rare triumph for sociobiology. Of
course, Barwin broke the law in the process, and broke the trust of
all the parents and offspring involved. Just as jarringly, in
circumventing the nightmare hell-scape of parenting, he also deprived
himself of the patently enjoyable part of the reproductive process: actually having
sex with the viable female partner. All told, the victory Dr. Barwin
won for sociobiology (and for that matter sociopathy) leaves us with far
more questions than answers, the most pressing among these being: What did he jerk off
to while filling those petri dishes?
***
Stephen Kunk lives near Portland with his wife and two (hopefully viable) daughters.
