“That’s creepy” was the response of a gay friend of mine when I told him of the idea for male eggs. But he went on to say that he’s not against it, since he supports any and all varieties of reproductive freedom. Would he use it himself? “Perhaps, if it weren’t prohibitively costly.” Nevertheless, he’s not overly enthusiastic about the concept, as in, “I don’t feel liberated by it.” Probably because he’s not determined to have children of his own genetic makeup and views adoption or surrogacy as perfectly suitable alternatives.

Felicia Park-Rogers, director of Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere in San Francisco, agrees with my gay friend. She acknowledges the human desire for a child of one’s own flesh and blood and advocates “as many ethical options as possible” to create a family. Though she is resolutely opposed to human cloning for reproduction — which she views as an act of pure narcissism — the bearing of children by way of egg nuclear transfer, she says, is “a perfectly ethical option” for gay and straight parents.

Since most humans react with knee-jerk revulsion to the words “cloning” and “reproduction” when used in close proximity, egg nuclear transfer for purposes of reproduction will be a hard sell. A gut-level aversion to cloning for reproduction may be somewhat instinctive, at least as far as evolution is concerned: Human cloning technology in the name of medical research is expected to remain outside the process of procreation; cloning as a mode of reproduction muscles into the natural order of the species.

Nevertheless, it is clear that much of the queasiness about human cloning for purposes of reproduction will be motivated by homophobia. Protests against male eggs will not just be about the issue of cloning but about homosexuality and the rights of gay men and women to have biological children.

It is hard to imagine many people being inimical to the newly mandated purpose of egg nuclear transfer, which is to give infertile couples a chance to start a family. But are we ready to view homosexual couples as clinically infertile? Will we define basic human reproductive rights as being available to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation?

During our correspondence, it became very clear that MacKellar is against the use of egg nuclear transfer by homosexual couples to create genetic offspring — for “theological reasons.” Park-Rogers, on the other hand, asserts that “any time we’re looking at new ways to reproduce, we need to look at what’s [ethically] best for families and children. So I would hate to see homophobic discrimination take part in blocking this in any way.”

The scientific community spends millions of dollars on infertility research; couples spend millions on infertility treatment. Infertile couples everywhere have moral, ethical and legislative support as they struggle to have offspring. How would we justify the limitation of this expense and support to heterosexuals? Who deserves to have genetic offspring?

Those who have challenged the prerogative of infertile couples to have children often allude to concerns about overpopulation, the unnaturalness of reproduction via a laboratory setting or the great numbers of orphaned children available for adoption. But as MacKellar points out, most of us are driven to have offspring who look and act like us. Whether this is due to our quest for immortality or the hypothetical selfish genes (the idea that DNA has devised ways to perpetuate itself regardless of the organisms housing it), it is a drive that exists and cannot be denied.

Some may argue that a government — any government — does not have jurisdiction over a person’s right to bear children and should not pass laws to govern a person’s DNA. But like it or not, legislation will dictate which direction we end up taking in this matter. (Even as I write this, MacKellar notifies me that scientists have proposed another way in which men could make babies of their own — by reprogramming cells from cloned embryos to change what was to become sperm to become an egg.)

Eventually, lawmakers will have to give in to the pressures of scientific progress, if not progressive thinking. Yet even if researchers are permitted to bring these technologies into reality, it could be four more years — maybe fewer but most likely more — until anyone, even heterosexual couples, would benefit from them. One hopes that, in that time, a principle of fairness will prevail and the law will be clear, so that use of reproductive technologies will center not on discriminatory doctrines but on the fundamental rights of freedom and choice.