Should severely disabled kids be kept small?

Ok, new discussion topic...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15517226/

This article discusses a procedure and study that was done on a severely disabled child.

Were the parents right to request such actions?

Are the actions ethical?

Is there a benefit to such actions?

Sounds like they are turning their kid into a family pet.

If it weren't for modern medicine a lot of people wouldn't be alive. Sometimes you have to wonder what God's intention was for people in that situation. Death or human science project?

I dont think death would be the only other option. Yes it does seem like they are turning their child into the family pet. But at the same time the fact they have taken away her ability to menstrate is actually a good thing. I have worked in a situation where we had a 17 year old downsyndrome girl who was on the level of a 3-4 year old, she had to be tube fed, couldnt wipe herself and her only past time was putting puzzles together, which she did very well..Her period was just an inconvience for her as well as those of us who had to take care of her.
Her parents didn't turn her into a test subject, but I could see how stunting her growth in some areas might have proved a blessing. BUt i dont know..i am going to think about this some more...

There are a number of things here that are disturbing to me.... the first is, why didn't the Dr.s involved say absolutely not? I think that we are stretching the boundries of ethics and making it seem like we are doing this for the good of humanity. I remember a Time article about 15-20 yrs ago that was about an Italian scientist that had successfully created 1/2 chimp 1/2 humans. He motivation was that it could be done. He was reprimanded and ordered to halt the tests and destroy the whatevers. Now we are doing the same thing again, but we have changed our reasoning to "help for humanity". If we can get pigs and chimps tp grow human body parts, then more will be available for transplants.... stretching the boundries...

the second thing that bothers me is that while their daughter is severly retarded, they are willing to subject her to cancer by giving her large doses of unrestricted (meaning not being balanced by progesterone) estrogyn. So when the little thing gets lukemia, or another type of reproductive cancer, she will suffer some more.

The parents are eventually going to be to old to care for her anyway, if she lives that long, which I guess is doubtful, so why not just hire someone to come in and turn/clean/lift her?

Amanda where do you find these articles?!

The first thing that I thought of is how do all the Dr.'s know this is going so well? The poor child can't talk so she can't say "I have pain" either. I think it's wrong. I think they are misguided in their obvious love for her & I agree with Unka Nell that hiring someone to lift & care for her when they are no longer able to would be the best thing BUT I have never had to deal with a situation like theirs.
I know in the home where Carlene (our madcap beach host) is, that terrible things have occured even tho it's a very nice place. They have dealt with sexual molestation & rape by the caregivers & retarded people are very "into" sex. This creates problems for everyone, the girl herself, staff & so on. We no longer have a country that takes care of our own handicapped, elderly or even our own children. That said, maybe this is a genuine fear for the parents & maybe that influenced their decision.