So…here it is 5:30 in the morning and I can’t sleep. Several thoughts
have entered my mind and I can't seem to post them as a comment so here is a brand new post dedicated to my early morning ponderings.
First, I am certain that every one of us in this class
has thought to ourselves at one time or another, “some people just shouldn’t
have kids.” This reason(s) for this thought include, but are not limited to,
general bad parenting (lack of supervision, extreme discipline or lack of,
etc), addiction issues, abuse, health disorders, physical attractiveness, and
mental capabilities. The list goes on and on. I think most people would agree
that the best if not the only way to stop this reproduction of undesirability
is to prevent people from reproducing. How many times have we heard some
version of “anyone can have a baby, but you have to pass a test to drive a car.”?
The problem with genetic discrimination and sterilization arises when WE are
the ones put on the undesirable list. That is when things are not right or not
fair or infringe on our freedoms. Yet, until we make the list, we are
comfortable judging other people’s decisions to reproduce. With this in mind, I
began to think of my own reproductive status. Why don’t I have any children?
The very first answer that comes to mind is that I am not married. So what?
Well, first off I do not want to do the work of raising a child by myself, but
probably more importantly, I do not want the stigma attached to being a single
Mom despite its wider acceptance these days. Isn’t my unwillingness to be
scrutinized for my reproductive behaviors in a very really sterilizing me? I
may say that choosing birth control is a voluntary decision, but in actuality
it is not. It is one that I have made because society told me to do so.
After considering my personal choices, I began to think of
my niece, little Carolynn. As a few in the class know, she is special needs to
a very large extent. Although she is almost 21 years old, she operates on 4
year old level (or so). She has all the functioning hormonal capabilities of a
21 year old without the mental capabilities to fully understand them or at
least not the verbal capabilities to express her understanding. What would
happen if somehow she got pregnant (this of course would be an extreme
situation and likely require some form of abuse, but nevertheless it could
happen)? What would my sister do? Certainly she could not allow Carolynn to
carry a pregnancy to term. Carolynn’s body may not even be able to do so, but
if she could, what would happen to the baby? Would it have the mental
capacities of a “normal” person? Who would take care of it? My sister? Me?
Adoptive parents? It is a terrible situation to contemplate but also a strong
example of a situation where sterilization seems advantageous (at least to me).
After considering my niece’s situation, I began to think about
cases where HIV positive people were prosecuted for nondisclosure of their
illnesses. (I do not know how I made this leap, but nonetheless.) How is this
life threatening illness different from genetic diseases? Why is it a criminal
offense to have sexual relations (without disclosure) when you are HIV
positive, but not when you sickle cell anemia, ms, breast cancer, or other
disease that is hereditary? How many people know they are predisposed to an
illness or disorder and still choose to have children? The odds be damned! The
differences do not seem that far apart to me. Is the simple answer to this
question ignorance? It seems to me that is the option many have chosen. I would
rather not know if I carried some deadly illness inside me. That way, I could
live a happy life (albeit not likely a very long one) without being preoccupied
and constantly reminded of my impending death. And more importantly, police
officers would not storm my bedroom looking to arrest me for passing on my
illness and premature death. While ignorance is no excuse under law for every
other crime, it is for genetics.
I will end this post now with the thought that the questions
we examine in class are literally the ones that keep us up at night, at least they keep me up but maybe I'm avoiding Candyman. It is too early to know if these thoughts will spark debate later on in class today, but at least they are out of my head and I can get back to sleep!