A

PATERSON, N. J.
MORNING NEWS
- D. 7,998 -

f'dLVv' 'OPK CITY METROPOLITAN AREA

. , .. *?. L 63

~npi IS c1 Parent, Too I

hadn't Johnny been an insep-
arable part of her during her
nine months of pregnancy?
Certainly no blame could be
directed at the father, the male
argued. because his role in cre-
ating Johnnv had been mini-
mai and flwting.
hlonarchies have been
rocked because a Queen
"faiieej" to produce a male
heir. We all recall whzt hap-
pened to Catherine of Aragon
u.hen. in efiect, Henry VI11 oi
Englsnd charged her with will-
ful neglect in refusing to bear
him a male heir. Catnerine
didn't get beheaded, as did
wo of the King's helpmeets,
but for her `:sins" of omission
.she was ejected from the castle
by means of divorce.
In our day, biology his mad:
mincemeat of this male ego-
tism Among this century's disr
coveries about the male is that
the sex of his offspring is de-
termined by his sperm. At the
moment of concepiion. the
mother plays no part in the
union of the iwo cells that de-
termines whether, nine months
later, she will present her lord
and master with a boy or a girl.
Science has known this for
more than half a century, but
it is a fact still largely un-
known to the man-in-the-street
and his spouse.

Aside from supposed respon-
sibility for the sex of theii
children, women are usually
blamed for any birth defqk
that appear. Some psycha-
trists say that women are in-
clined, secretly or otheryise, tu
accept that censure and m con-
sequence to suffer from feelings
of guilt.
Another frequent accusation
is that many women continui

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"Monarchies have been rocked because a Queen `failed' to pro-
duce a male heir. We all recall what happened to Catherine of
Aragon when, in effect, Henry Vlil of England charged her with
willful neglect in refusing to bear him a male heir."

bearing children long after
tney snould Columnists in our
daily press, magazine writers,
gymeleo7iogisis and others join
in a drumbeat of u-arnings 10
women against risking child-
birth at age 35 or older. The
reasons are mostly sound and
include the increased incidence
amdng these older mothers of
mongoloid infants, those born
withmental defects, andappar-
ently achondroplasia (dwarf-
ism), heart defects, and babies
born smaller than usual.
IVhat distresses me is that
while on the distaff side there
are many genetic and uterine
studies, on the male side there
are almost no investigations
whatever. The National Foun-
dation-March of Dimes, now
combaring birth defects after
its successful campaign against
polio. believes that more stud-
ies of the male role in procrea-
tion should be undertaken so
that OUT picture in time may
become less lopsided.
What about the father's age,
particularly when he is 40 01
over? A 15- or even 20-year
differential is not highly un-
common between spouses now-
adays. In relation to birth and
birth defects. does the md&E

sperm deteriorate or otherwise
mange after a given age? I4
male age a factor even when
the partners are about the
same age? Some respected in-
bestigators think it may be. I

We have fairly well-
grounded suspicions today that
the age of the father might not
be the only factor involved in
passing along defective char-
acteristics to his children. It
has already been established,
for example, that even a young
man can have a role in trans-
mittinp a familial form of
mongolism. And recently, in
Hawaii. I heaid a medical
paper that demonstrated that
when the gene that causes dub'
foot is present in pure Hawai-
ians, it is more often the malo,
who carries it

Oddly enough, papa also ap`

sikely for passing along exces-
sively hairy ears seen among
some natives of India and Cey-,
lon. It is a reasonable assump-
hon that, as ow knowledge of
chromosomes in the male in-
creases, we will find more
birth defects attributable to
him.
The time has come for a iong
look at papa.

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pears to be responsible exclu- I