What is Mum 2 Mum? I have made many good friends online and often wish that I could sit down with them for a cuppa and chat like I do with my real life friends; other Mums with good advice, interesting stories to share, laughs to be had and experiences to learn from. Mum 2 Mum is a place where as online friends we can share a little of our own experiences, so why not pop in for a cuppa and join the conversation.
I had no plan to post a Mum 2 Mum chat today but after seeing this article, Why our next child must be a daughter, from The Daily Telegraph online this morning, I have been left with all sorts of questions. The following are excerpts from the article or you could pop over and read the whole piece and then come back as I would love to hear your thoughts;
Why our next child must be a daughterA COUPLE who terminated twin boys conceived through IVF are fighting to choose the sex of their next child – because they want a girl. In a case that raises the ethical question of sex selection, the couple have taken their fight to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. They already have three sons and said they now want to have a girl after their baby daughter died.An independent panel, known as the Patient Review Panel, rejected the couple’s bid to choose the gender of their next child using IVF. They now want that decision overturned. The tribunal, which ruled it has the power to review the earlier decision, will hear the case in March.The couple said they had made the decision to terminate the twin boys but could not continue to have unlimited numbers of children.If their bid to have a daughter fails, they said they would go to US so they can conceive a girl.
I can personally understand their grief following the loss of their baby girl but I cannot get my head around the idea of terminating a subsequent, healthy pregnancy because the baby (or in this case babies) is the wrong sex. Maybe it is just me, with our recent loss still so raw, but, it really makes me wonder, do we, as a society, really want to follow a path where parents can choose the gender of their unborn child? With so many loving couples struggling to even conceive, it just seems ungrateful.
We don’t live in a perfect world. We don’t have perfect Stepford families. Doesn’t there come a point where we should just be thankful for the fact that we have been blessed with children. That medical science has come to such a point where there are more opportunities for those who are reproductively challenged, that so many more babies who are born prematurely or with health problems can be saved. Shouldn’t that be enough?
Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.
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