Lesbian couple create a child who is deaf like them

A deaf lesbian couple in the US deliberately tried to create a deaf child. Sharon Duchesneau and Candy McCullough hoped their child, conceived with the help of a sperm donor, would be deaf like the rest of the family. Their daughter, five year old Jehanne, is also deaf and was conceived with the same donor. News of the couple choosing to have a deaf child has only been revealed with the birth of their son Gauvin. ^{1- 4}

To increase their chance of having a deaf baby the women sought a deaf sperm donor from a sperm bank but were told that congenital deafness is "precisely the sort of condition" that disqualifies would-be donors. Rather than dismiss the idea they found their own sperm donor by asking a deaf friend who comes from a family with five generations of deafness. ¹

The women, both professionals in the mental health field, insist that they would still love their child if it could hear: "A hearing baby would be a blessing. A deaf baby would be a special blessing". ¹

Like many others in the deaf community, the couple don't view deafness as a disability. They see deafness as a cultural identity and the sophisticated sign language that enables them to communicate fully with other signers as the defining and unifying feature of their culture. ¹

Both women were born deaf and want their children to...