Snowflake Children

Snowflake children

Snowflake children is a term used by organizations that promote the adoption of frozen embryos left over from in vitro fertilization (IVF) to describe children that result. The embryos are donated by families who have cryopreserved embryos remaining from their IVF treatment that they do not plan to use themselves. The ownership of the embryos is transferred from the donor to the recipient using the best practices of adoption. It is called embryo adoption, although the legal process of taking ownership of an embryo differs from that of traditional adoption. According to a CBS News article dated July 28, 2005,[full citation needed] the term "Snowflake baby" was coined by the first agency to provide the adoption service, Nightlight Christian Adoptions. Their embryo adoption program is call the Snowflakes Embryo Adoption Program and over 750 babies have been born from this program. Many other organizations use the term 'snowflake baby' to refer to children born from donated embryos. While the term "Snowflake babies" has been used to describe babies born in this manner, the first snowflake children are no longer babies. According to CBS News, the first snowflake baby was born in 1998. Former US president George W. Bush has made public appearances together with snowflake children while speaking about his support for adult stem cell research and his opposition to the destruction of human embryos for the purpose of embryonic stem cell research. In his book Decision Points, Bush allowed certain social factions to request and receive Federal funding for genomics, the manufacturing of human life artificially. He wrote,.mw-parser-output .templatequoteoverflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequoteciteline-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0In Science magazine, bioethicist Dr. Louis Guenin argued, "If we spurn [embryonic stem cell research], not one more [snowflake] baby is likely to be born. If we conduct research, we may relieve suffering. The message was unmistakable: Within every frozen embryo were the [artificial] beginnings of a child. One of the groups most actively supporting embryonic stem cell research was the Juvenile Diabetes Research Association. In July 2001, I invited representatives from the organization to the Oval Office. That same day, I also met representatives of National Right to Life. They opposed any research that destroyed embryos. They pointed out that each tiny stem cell cluster had the potential to grow into a person [more naturally as compared to the embryo's beginnings from in vitro fertilization]. In fact, all of us had started our lives in this early state [but not artificially, unlike snowflake babies]. As evidence, they pointed to a new program run by Nightlight Christian Adoptions. The agency secured permission from IVF [in vitro fertilization] participants to place their unused frozen embryos up for adoption. Loving mothers had the embryos implanted in them and carried the babies--known as snowflakes--to term. The message was unmistakable: Within every frozen embryo were the beginnings of a[n adoptable, artificially produced] child. When Karl Zinsmeister, my domestic policy adviser, suggested inviting a group of ssnowflake babies to the White House, I thought the idea was perfect. Each had come from a frozen embryo that, rather than being destroyed for research, was implanted in an adoptive mother. (pp. 111-123)

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Children

Coates' firstborn William Hobson Coates, born in 1842, was the first child to be entered into the baptism register at Auckland's first church St Paul's. Governor Hobson and Lady Hobson were his godparents. WH Coates was an ensign in the Auckland Militia and the 1st Regiment of Waikato Militia. He died on 16 March 1879, aged 36, and is buried in St Stephens Cemetery Auckland. Coates' second child Lavinia Coates, born 1844, was president of the Victoria League and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of her services in connection with the First World War. For several years she acted as chaperone and companion to Minnie Horton, daughter of The New Zealand Herald proprietor Alfred George Horton. She toured England and the Continent with the Hortons during the 1890s. For a brief period in 1896 she served as aide to Sir George Grey. Lavinia never married. She died in 1929 and is buried at Purewa Cemetery Auckland. Coates' third child Georgiana Sophia, born 1846, married Canon Charles Moseley Nelson, who was the Vicar of St Paul's Church, Auckland for 38 years. The National Library of New Zealand holds a sketch by Charles Heaphy which depicts Rev Nelson proposing to Georgiana ("Sophy") at the Freemason's picnic. Georgiana was president of the Ladies' Benevolent Society for 30 years, one of the founders of the SPCA, the Parnell Orphans' Home, and the Plunket Society. She was also a vice-president of the Girls' Friendly Society and an active member of the Mothers' Union. She died on 9 October 1919 and is buried in St Stephens Cemetery Auckland. Coates' fourth child Augustus "Gus" John Ligar Coates, born 11 November 1849, married Jane Maunsell, daughter of the Venerable Robert Maunsell who was one of New Zealand's first missionaries and was instrumental in framing the Treaty of Waitangi and encouraging Maori chiefs to sign it. AJL Coates was one of the first commercial travellers in New Zealand. He died on 25 October 1926 and is buried at Purewa Cemetery Auckland. AJL Coates' Great-great-grandson Barry Coates became a New Zealand Member of Parliament in 2016. Coates' fifth child Sir James Hugh Buchanan Coates, born in 1851, was not quite three years old at the time of his father's death. He remained unmarried, and became a prominent banker. He died on 11 October 1935.