Fathering After Death

      This past two weeks has been rough on a young widow.  Her husband was killed in Irag on March 31.  Kynesha Dhanoolal, the widow, wanted to save his sperm as she and her husband had talked often, of having children together.  She wants to be the mother of his children.

     It appears that a will was not on file anywhere and the military had papers designating Kynesha’s husband’s (Dayne) mother as the person to whom the right of handling his remains; should anything happen to him.  It would appear that Kynesha’s mother- in- law at first was not in agreement of harvesting her son’s sperm, initially.

      Days were spent in discussion before an agreement took place.  Experts say that the sperm may not be viable anymore.  It seems after a man’s death…the sperm loose their mobility and their viability to fertilize an egg within hours.  The harvesting didn’t take place until 4 days after his death and that means that the potential to create a baby has definately lessoned.  It would be a miracle it sounds like if a child was to be conceived.

       I can understand wanting a baby together.  I can understand having the choice to have the child of her husband…however, he was in the military.  He is unfortunately no longer alive to help her raise the child or support the child financially.  This whole situation will open a bunch of legal and moral questions.

        If she is blessed with a pregnancy from her husband’s sperm…will her pregnancy be covered under military benefits?  Since the father is no longer alive would the child be entitled to social security benefits?  Would tax payers be responsible for the support of this future child.  Since the potential conception can only take place by artificial insemination…will that be procedure be paid for by military benefits? With the father gone; who will be a positive male role model for the child?   

         Having lost her husband…i am sure all of those issues are not at the forefront of Mrs. Dhanoolal’s mind.  She is grieving the loss of her young husband.  She is grieving the loss of her dreams of having a child with the man she loves.  I am sure she is regretful of having to force such a request on the mother of her husband as she is grieving the loss of her son.  This, I am sure has added another aspect of grieving for both women.  If, after having to wait for those four days, a pregnancy does not occur will the daughter-in-law blame the mother-in-law for not agreeing sooner?   

         If the expert is correct and the sperm is no longer able to produce a pregnancy…the grieving will continue for both women.  There will be no child or grandchild from the man that they both loved.  The war in Iraq has stolen another generation from another family.  The whole thing is very sad.  This service man and his family has sacrificed what so many others have sacrificed before him…a future with their loved ones. 

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Dance Machine

       Wow, last night’s Dances with the Stars was good.  It is never a dull show.  From Adam Carolla’s interesting display of a paso doble in a cape an performed in the beginning on a unicycle.  Hmmm…entertaining yes, dancing…not so much.  I know he has a following and he is funny…up to a point..usually at the point where he crossing the line into uncomfortable…and then…well…it is his night to leave i should think!  So Sorry Julianne Hough…i do love to see you dance…but…you don’t have much to work with this season, i am afraid.

        Priscilla Pressley was beautiful and graceful.  However, she was spotted by Len and Carrie Ann as doing a “lift”.  Although…it didn’t seem to hurt her score overmuch a 22 out of posssible 30.  Carrie Ann also complimented Priscilla on her facial expressions…some people definately disagree with that assessment.

          Mario, partnered with Karina, i thought did a decent job…i see him improving a bit each week.  He seems to definately have a desire to conquer the challenges put before him.  His scores weren’t impressive but they were improved over his scores of a week ago.

          Jason Taylor the football player is large but his footwork is improving.  He seems to be Trying to be graceful with his hands..however…at times it seems awkward.  But i have to say…wow…is there chemistry between him and Edyta.  Their dance, besides a stumble and awkward hand motions by Jason…seemed so filled with passion and attraction that it was almost hypnotic.  I sense something brewing here.

         Shannon Elizabeth did a great job for not being able to have much practice time with Dereck.  He is such a smooth dancer…i think he makes his partners shine.  However, Dereck was injured last week and had to be taken to the hospital because of a neck injury.  So Shannon had to practice with Jonathon…who i also adore.  But, still when it comes time to actually perform…it had to be difficult to transition from one partner to another.  Shannon looked beautiful and did a nice job.

          Christian de la Fuente who is Cheryl Burke’s dancing parnter was awesome.  He did a nice job.  Seems to be a bit of ego though going on between him and Cheryl about who needs to listen to who.  Both strong partners..if they can find a good working pattern they could be very high on the list of scores.

            Marissa Janet Winokur i loved watching perform.  No she isn’t a size 4 and watching her practice getting tossed around by Tony was almost painful.  But, she put all of that aside and tackled the practices with gusto.  Her performance was very good indeed.  However, i do wish the costume department would put a little more time and effort into “presenting” her costumes in a lovely way.  Her outfit this week looked like someone didn’t spend a lot of time trying to make her look good.  Marissa has the potential of becoming one of the better dancers strictly because of  her relationship with Tony.  She is like a sponge…he says it and she focusses her attention on attaining that goal.  I like her energy and her excitement when she is able to do what he throws at her.   Out of all of the seasons…i am truly enjoying watching Tony taking pride in Marissa.  He seems to be loving working with her.  Some of his other partners seemed to irritate him….he was all smiles last night with her.

          Marlee Matland is a marvel at what she has been able to accomplish.  When she said that she was having trouble with her balance last night during the turns…i could see that it was definately throwing her off.  There were some genuine oddities during her dance.  I love that she puts herself out there and for the most part has been a positive role model in reaching out and doing something just because she can.  She doesn’t let her deafness define who she is.  Balance is truly controlled in a large part by the inner ear…so i dont know how she will be able to fair throughout the whole competition if and when they get to dances that require many spins and turns…i hope she can find a way to counteract her off balance feeling.

          Kristi Yamaguchi is a dance machine.  She is very precise in her steps and for some reason seems to have to work hard at connecting to the judges on an emotional level.  I think she has been doing very well…in fact she got a 29 on her scores in spite of those criticisms of her lack of ability to conveyher emotional character in dance.  When she is able to do this to the judges approval she will have a perfect score…but it does seem that her dancing skills are being judged at a higher level than the other contestants.  She came out from the start with very good skills…but they are using her performances to compare the other dancers to her level of skill. 

          It will be getting harder on out from this point…because i think after tonight…those with lessor skills will be starting to leave the show.  The bar will keep being raised each week demanding improvement in all areas.

       

        

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