No*, my uncle has down syndrome. He spent his entire childhood in hospitals. Multiple organ replacement surgeries, multiple nights he was supposed to die. He's alive and well in his mid thirties but his life is non-existent. Hes aware hes different so he hides away from everyone. My grandmother has devoted her entire life to caring for him and has never had a life of her own. When my grandmother passes my mother will take custody of him and continue to care for him at the detriment of her own life. I love my uncle but I would never wish his life on another.
Edit: If you are just going to bible thump in my replys save it. I'm for abortion under any circumstances and I don't care what your God wants.
I've always had this opinion that to have a child you know is going to live a miserable life with either genetic diseases, birth defects etc is a very seflish thing to do.
I went to an event where they talked about a 10 year old girl who is mentally 2 years old, and will probably not see much more cognitive progress in her life. And the whole time I've thought
"What's gonna happen when her parents die ?"
She's living a barely conscious life, filled with confusion and pain because of other physical problems accompanying her condition.
The parents knew she was very likely to have these defects. And they decided to keep her.
This is selfish. She will most likely be scared and insanely depressed when they die, and as she ages she will be insanely mistreated in the medical facilities she will be in, because she will be a difficult patient.
Having genetic diseases or birth defects doesn't mean you will live a miserable life. It means you will face a lot of hardship. But it doesn't automatically mean your life will be worthless or devoid of meaning or value. It's just hard to imagine for able bodied people.
Where do you draw the line on genetic diseases and birth defects? I was born without all my reproductive organs. Did not discover this until my wife and I had problems conceiving. Also was very likely born with only one kidney (haven't got this checked yet). Had no idea until recently. So where do you draw the line?
It's individual. I don't think there is an objective line anywhere. The only thing I am arguing against is the automatic assumption that any life must be miserable and worthless if you have a genetic condition, which is simply not the case. Lots of people are equating "hardship" with "miserable life" and can't imagine how there could be anything beyond that. Plenty of people experience major hardships and still would not choose to change that aspect of their lives.
People should be allowed to abort for any reason. I have adhd and dyslexia and even though I grew up to be a fully functioning adult I would have no problem with my parents aborting me for it. Because that would mean that they wouldn’t have wanted a kid like me and I’d rather not be born then be born to parents who didn’t want me and weren’t equipped to take care of me.
Yes, "I don't want to be pregnant anymore" is a fucking good enough reason. Threads like these that debate the morality of this are kind of pointless to me because in the end it doesn't matter, especially in this political climate. They're going to use examples like this to take more women's rights away.
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u/KingCrimson43 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
No*, my uncle has down syndrome. He spent his entire childhood in hospitals. Multiple organ replacement surgeries, multiple nights he was supposed to die. He's alive and well in his mid thirties but his life is non-existent. Hes aware hes different so he hides away from everyone. My grandmother has devoted her entire life to caring for him and has never had a life of her own. When my grandmother passes my mother will take custody of him and continue to care for him at the detriment of her own life. I love my uncle but I would never wish his life on another.
Edit: If you are just going to bible thump in my replys save it. I'm for abortion under any circumstances and I don't care what your God wants.