For most of human history there has been only one type of marriage: a
marriage between a male and a female. But now we have same-sex
marriage, which has been supported this week by a ruling of the US
Supreme Court. With the recent advent of same-sex marriage, we now
have three possible permutations for marriage:
- A marriage between a male and a female
- A marriage between a male and a male
- A marriage between a female and female
I have a suspicion that (for better or worse) there are still
additional permutations coming.
Let me explain why I suspect this. Yesterday there was a news
headline: UK may approve creating babies with DNA from 3 people. The
story was about an exotic genetic technique that could be used so
that certain couples with a genetic problem might have healthy
children by having doctors splice in additional genes from a third
person.
Now let's imagine if this process were to be legalized. The door
would be open to cases of entirely healthy parents combining their
genes with genes from a third person. Let's imagine Karl Karrington
has some special genes that cause him to be a brilliant scientist or
athlete. It might then be that John Doe and Jane Doe arrange to have
some of Karl's genes spliced into the genes of their developing
embryo, to improve the chances that their child will be a brilliant
scientist or athlete.
The result would, in effect, be a child with three parents. The child
would be sharing the genes from three people. Now if the world starts
seeing children with three parents, what can you imagine will happen
next? I imagine the next step would be a demand for a legalization of
polygamy.
Think of it: John Doe and Jane Doe go on television and tearfully
plea: why can't we marry Karl – he's one of the fathers of our
child.
If the idea of legalized polygamy sounds outrageous, I may note that
it is no more outrageous than the notion of gay marriage seemed
thirty years ago. There have already been cultures in which polygamy
was accepted.
If my suspicion about the future legalization of polygamy is correct,
then in the future we may soon be seeing wedding invitations like
this:
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