Should deaf parents be able to choose deaf children?
Rushda:
March 14th, 2008
New legislations regarding IVF treatment have recently made it impossible for parents to choose an embryo with a genetic defect when a healthy one is available. Most people would regard this as an important and beneficial move but a recent case has sparked much controversy over the issue. A set of deaf parents, who see deafness as a cultural phenomenon rather than a true disability, want to have a deaf child despite being able to have a hearing child instead.
This is one of the few cases where the parents have preferred their child to have a disability than to not, and it has sparked outrage from both sides. Tomato Lichy and his partner, who already “thankfully” have a deaf child, argue that they will be able to connect better with their new child if it cannot hear - deafness, they say, comes with many beautiful cultural features such as deaf in-jokes and deaf-language. They argue that to refuse their right to have a deaf child would be discrimination, effectively saying that deaf people cannot have worthwhile lives. As Lichy says:
“The core issue is that the government is saying deaf people are not equal to hearing people. Despite the fact that over time we have seen more and more rights for disabled people they are now seeking to establish a legal principle that deaf people are inferior - and there may be more laws once this gap opens.”
For Lichy and his partner, the preference is so great that they would regard a hearing child as a disabled one. However, many have retaliated by saying that deliberately choosing a child who will face problems in life is morally condemnable. It cannot be discrimination because the argument is not that deaf children don’t have worthy lives but that hearing children have a higher potential for a better life. As chief executive Jackie Ballard of The Royal National Institute for Deaf People explains:
“Deafness is a disability and we have spent a long time campaigning to improve the lives of people who live with it. But it is certainly not a slight to the deaf to say it is better to bring a child who will face the least difficulty into the world, when there is a choice to be made.”
Personally, I agree and I think that to call hearing ability a disability is not only absurd but insulting to the majority of deaf people who do feel that their lack of hearing is a deficiency. Thankfully the Royal National Institute for Deaf People are also against Lichy’s plans. Why deliberately cause damage to a child without even giving it a chance of hearing? (no hearing child would feel “worse off”) The parents may feel that deafness has given them comparable substitutes, but how would they even know how good hearing is? At any rate, the argument is a slippery slope. What’s to stop parents who can’t walk now asking for a limbless child?
March 14th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
[…] Read the rest of this great post here […]
March 16th, 2008 at 3:26 am
Do you actually understand what the issue is really about, and the actual implications of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill? Like so many people, you have fallen into the trap set by the media, to divert attention away from the actual bill.
At any rate, your comment: At any rate, the argument is a slippery slope. What’s to stop parents who can’t walk now asking for a limbless child?, shows that you really haven’t given the issue any thought!
March 16th, 2008 at 3:48 am
[…] Such as the following quote lifted from, Should Deaf Parents Be Able To Choose Deaf Children?: “Why deliberately cause damage to a child without even giving it a chance of hearing?” […]
March 17th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
[…] bioethics.com: Choosing a Deaf Baby is Criminal Mike Gulliver’s Blog: A plea to the press on Clause 14 (HFAE Bill) BioEdge: British activists call for creation of deaf embryos Paul Humphreys’s Weblog: Computus - the way we decide when Easter is.. Geek of All Trades: You’re deaf, not retarded. At the Rim: The BBC Interview The Coterie of the Zombies: The Right To Remain Silent The Coterie of the Zombies: spunk whores get their come-uppance The Gray Monk: The right to choose? Ye Goblyn Queenne: Speak up please. You are deaf. We can’t hear you. OlyBlog: Screening Embryos for Blindness / Deafness Liberal Burblings: Deaf couple and IVF - angels on the head of a pin? Media Dis&Dat: Controversial new British law challenged by deaf community Bede’s Journal: Are Deaf People Disabled? As in the days of Noah: CULTURE of DEATH:’Creating a deaf child IS immoral and no parent should be allowed to choose this for their child’ 123 Creation: Props to John Humphries on the deaf issue This side of the house: Deaf parents chosing deaf babies Remembering the Ability in Disability: Are they deaf? or just DisAbled? John Smeaton, SPUC Director: The moral maze created by IVF The Deaf Blog: The Right to be Deaf Erasmus28: Radio 4 - The Moral Maze - IVF Centre Right: The disgraceful desire to inflict a disability on babies Catholic News 24/7: Deaf couple wants to use genetic selection to have a deaf child Vixen’s Diary: The Right to be Deaf? Carlos Online: Deafness, Disability and IVF Daily Grind: Choosing Child’s Genetic Makeup Parent Dish: Should UK couple be allowed to choose a deaf embryo? Mike Gulliver’s Blog: The lie of ‘of course deaf is wrong’ Berke Outspoken: Deaf IVF Embryos, Natural Deaf Babies, and Choices Our Future Thoughts: Having a Deaf Child - On Purpose Rob’s Blog Space: Is deafness a Dissability? All The Young Dudes: Media Watch: Tidish Boom! Mulier Fortis: Designer Babies …? iblog so you don’t have to: Should deaf parents be able to choose deaf children? disability: Should deaf parents be able to choose deaf children? spEak You’re bRanes: Gingervitis All The Young Dudes: Transcript: Out In The Middle Of Whoop, Whoop’s World Service, 6pm. March 12th 2008 Freemania: Deafness and the availability of options Alejandro: Deafness is a Disablitiy Liberal Conspiracy: Are they deaf? Or just DisAbled? Defying Clarity: Deaf British Babies: Morally Repugnant? Butterfly, Like Me…Deaf’s v/blog: Choosing a Deaf baby is criminal” wrote Daniel Finkelstein!! All The Young Dudes: The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill: A Message From G.O.D […]
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:48 am
The slippery slope is the government control of our children.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:51 am
What happens when they outlaw the birth of people like you?