December 11, 2007

Study This! Separating Siblings for Science

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These two women had always known they were adopted but had no idea that they had a sibling, let alone an identical twin!

At 35, when one started searching for her birth family, they found out that researchers had intentionally separated them, and as many other twins and triplets as they could get their mitts on, specifically so they could study the nature v. nurture thing. To top it all off, these separated siblings have no legal recourse. The study results won’t even be available until 2066. Did the birth parents know their kids would be separated?

I guess I’d have made a lousy scientist because there’s no way I could ever have devised, or agreed to, something so callous. Here’s hoping they don’t give up on the legal angle so no one ever comes up with this type of psychological Tuskegee experiment again.

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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