The thread has taken an interesting turn and raises some interesg debating points.
I take the point raised by Xenia and others that women might eventually decide to go it alone and either use IVF to conceive or perhaps conceive naturally with random men and then deliberately exclude the man from bringing up or even having contact with his biological child. Certainly those are both trends we are beginning to see in our society already and that we may see continue.
However, that analysis is quiet a static one and it is possible that society and nature might push back against that trend. Here are a few random thoughts about what might happen.
Would men change the way they behave and withold sperm from women? Perhaps that is what is already happening as this thread shows with men refusing to consent to have chldren. Knowing they are now legally on the hook for the upkeep of the child and knowing that the women can simply walk away at any time after conception and claim financial support but with little chance of enforcing their rights as a fathers - are wealthier men saying what is in it for me?
Also the idea that women can simply conceive by IVF still depends on sperm and men may refuse to donate (although tehnological advance may allow egg-egg IVF). For example, I thought about donating sperm to other couples after me and DW went through IVF but decided against it when it became clear I might be held responsible for the child at some future date. Might sperm become a very valuable commodity as we can already see men are now very unwilling to donate and it ahs become a major problem for chldless couples in the UK.
It is possble that human society mght become more like an elephant matriachal society with men excluded except for mating and then only with the dominant males? Many males never get the chance to mate. Perhaps we really are already seeing this in society with the rise of gang culture though with young men routinely killing each other to establish a domnant male position. Not a good outcome.
We may see a more Gorilla like human society with one or a few dominant males and a hareem of female mates. Again we see this in human society already with very wealthy men marrying and then carrying on multiple affairs with younger women who seem happy to go along with the arrangemet in return for protection and welfare. Better to mate with a known serial philanderer who is rich than a single poor man (who may stil stray).
Perhaps women routinely mating with a series of random unknown men in order to conceive may face much higher health risks. Again we know biology produced AIDS and perhaps another AIDS-like virus might appear if women had many multiple partners.
Perhaps women who are prepared to mate and be monogamous with one man might become highly prized and men will vie to be chosen so the whole pendulum will swing back to early marriage and consenting men looking to conceive early with the one woman that has chosen them.
I emphasise, these are just my random thoughts so please don't think I am having a go at anyone or 'sticking up for men'.
Would like to hear what others think.