In lieu of Mother’s Day and Diabetes Blog Week, I have a question.
If you knew you were a carrier of a disease or illness would you still have kids?
I was talking with a friend today. Her son has hemophilia. Her daughter is also a carrier. The daughter is thinking of starting a family soon. My friend thinks she should talk with a specialist first. My friend was wondering if there is any way to isolate the gene in eggs and only fertilize the non-hemophilia eggs. It’s a very interesting dilemma and possible solution.
The movie Gattaca keeps coming to mind. In that movie people had the ability to go to a genetic specialist and basically special order a genetically superior child. My favorite part is when Uma Thurman’s character finds out that Ethan Hawke’s character was not ordered this way. I love when she says, “You’re a God child?” I love that sentiment that some people were happy accidents. They were called faith births. Of course they were also called negative things like invalids (as in not valid) or degenerates.
I can’t think of a moment in my life where I didn’t want to have my own children. By the time I had my first baby I had been diabetic for 15 years. I guess you could say I had the chance to not want to pass my “faulty” genes onto a child but I didn’t care. I knew of enough diabetic women who had had their own children. I was going to go for it. Maybe some consider that recklessness. I don’t. The world would be a much different place if my three kids were not in it because I chose not to have children based on my “genetic imperfections.”
The gene pool is what it is. Things happen. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes the healthiest people in the world with the most beautiful genetic pedigree can get together and mutations occur. It’s part of life.
That’s my piquant opinion. What do you think?
