I agree - please don't make judgements in the case
of inherited disorders. I too carry a faulty gene (not CF) which has
affected all 3 of my children. While I love them all dearly and do not
regret their lives, I do know that I would NOT have chosen this path
willingly. I was not able to test for the first 2, did test for the 3rd,
but was informed (wrongly as it turns out) that females are not
affected.
Knowing several families with CF and the battles
they face both in testing issues and in raising affected children I could not
judge anyone who did not feel that they wanted to continue with a pregnancy if
the child were to have a serious problem.
It is true that all lives are meaningful and that
all children should be valued, sadly society still has a very long way to go
before that ideal is commonplace practice. I have met with much ignorance
and discrimination regarding my kids, their lives are compromised, they will
always require care.
They have taught me much and have touched many
lives, those who take the time to know them value them deeply, however, not
everyone does. I have met many angels and many ogres!
Raising such children takes a huge commitment
physically, emotionally and financially, and you fight battles every day to
make their world a better place.
I have often cared for women who have chosen to
terminate a child with a genetic fault, as part of my job, and I pride myself on
giving them the best care I can, without judgement on their decision. I
figure they have had a hard enough time coming to that place without that.
I have also had the great joy of caring for women who have chosen to continue
regardless. With all of these I share some of my own experience so that
they will know that others have found themselves in similar
circumstances.
There is no 'right' or 'wrong' answer in such
situations. People have to come to their own choice according to their own
circumstances, beliefs and consciences, then they have to find peace with that
choice, either way it is not easy.
Sue
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing"
Edmund Burke
|
- [ozmidwifery] CF screening Robyn Dempsey
- RE: [ozmidwifery] CF screening Megan & Larry
- Re: [ozmidwifery] CF screening Susan Cudlipp
- RE: [ozmidwifery] CF screening Nicole Carver
- Re: [ozmidwifery] CF screening Janet Fraser
- RE: [ozmidwifery] CF screening Vedrana Valčić
- [ozmidwifery] CF screening Robyn Dempsey
- Re: [ozmidwifery] CF screening Judy Chapman
- RE: [ozmidwifery] CF screening Ken WArd
- Re: [ozmidwifery] CF screening Susan Cudlipp
- Re: [ozmidwifery] CF screening Jenny Cameron
- RE: [ozmidwifery] CF screening Vedrana Valčić