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Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Changing the Paradigm

Currently in our society it would appear as though the needs and desires of the adults are always trumping the rights of the children. When I speak to people they all confirm that the rights of children should be paramount, but yet when we look at our society and in particular the practice of fertility treatment then it is anything but.
We need a shift in the current paradigm where we stop focussing on heartbreak of the infertile, however tragic that is and focus on the welfare of the child that is to be created in this manner. This is not to make light of infertility, but an attempt to protect the rights of the most vulnerable, the child.
How can we defend ourselves by saying that the child will be wanted and loved when unconditional love means that as a parent or would be parent we will do everything in our power to ensure that our children are not emotionally or physically hurt by our own actions. Donor conception can almost be seen to have parallels with Munchausens by proxy, whereby we want the attention and love that a child can give us but to get that we have to create a situation that has the potential to cause long term trauma to that child. This is not to suggest that the would be parent wishes to intentionally hurt the child, it may however be a by-product of the situation that is forced upon that child.
If we afford the protection children deserve than the rest will look after itself, because nothing else really matters.

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