I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which is a genetic connective tissue disease. I lived in pain all my life. I have had over 30 surgeries. My husband and I have opted not to have kids. Not only do we not want any but we don't want to pass it along. Yet we see people who insist on bringing sick special needs children into this world who will never leave the nest. Also with EDS there is a high percentage of autistic kids being produced. I told one woman that I randomly met and told her I thought she had EDS and I told her she shouldn't have anymore kids. Her two previous kids have autism and of course she didn't listen. Her third kid is so severely autistic that she cannot even communicate. The family went to Disney World but had to leave the severely autistic kid behind. They claimed that the kid wouldn't have been able to handle the stimulation. I strongly agree that people like myself shouldn't pass on any genetic condition.
Strongly disagree.
1. Because a disability shouldn’t determine somebody’s right to have children.
2. Disability doesn’t equate to inability. For many disabled people disability does not make them incapable of everything. Certain tasks may be difficult and they may need help with certain things, but that doesn’t mean every disabled person is incapable of looking after a child.
3. I’m disabled so to agree with this would be even more stupid for me than anyone
Opinion
39Opinion
Who decides what's serious? If this was a law then people would have to apply for a permit to have kids. Now you have some government official with the power to decide if you're allowed to have kids or not. And what would happen if someone broke the law?
Would they pay a fine? Would they go to prison and disadvantage the child that was just born? Or would you wanna forcefully sterilize them like the Nazis did to 400 000 disabled people (and killed over 70 000).
Then comes the additional problem of what if someone says they're being denied because of other factors like race for instance?
I don't want kids atm because I don't want the responsibility I'm still trying to establish myself and grow but maybe in 10 years I'll change my mind. I have asd and I would have to think about it I'd certainly be hesitant but I don't think my life is impacted so strongly that it's not worth living. There's a good chance I'll never have kids but it's down to personal responsibility and also finding a partner is already a barrier.
There will always be irresponsible people but the alternative is far worse. It's kind of shocking to me that 28% agree with this.
There's only a chance that it will be passed on to the children. Yes some will have a higher chance than others but it's not a guarantee that the child will ultimately get it. Some inheritable disabilities can actually occur in the development stages of sperm, egg and so on from an unknown and unpredictable variant that causes a mutation, meaning that two people with no such disability and no family history of one can have a baby with one. Honestly I could list many more variables that can effect the chances of an inheritable disability being passed on. It's to complex and not very straightforward. If we go by this logic then no one should be able to have kids since there is still a possibility of cells mutating in the early developing stages of conception.
When pregnant, they actually test the baby for down syndrome and other disabilities regardless if either parent carries or has a family history of a certain gene. So it's safe to say that anyone having a baby will always pose a risk.
I believe that we end up scientifically knowing more about these inheritable disabilities and other variants as more are born. In essence it's needed to help with discovering treatments, cures and prevention methods. Just because it can happen doesn't mean it will and I don't think it's right for anyone's rights to have children be denied for any reason.
I was diagnosed in my 20s with a chronic auto immune disorder. My life thereafter has been in and out of hell. One of the first things that I wondered was, could I pass this on to a kid because there was no way in hell I wanted that. In the dark of night, I never wanted a kid to sit there and think, why the hell do I have to go through all this, if I knowingly could have prevented such suffering. Thankfully for me, the odds are very low at 10%, but I knew definitively that if the odds were high, there was no way I would even potentially entertain the thought of having biological kids.
Random, but in college, my Bio professor was giving a lecture on genetic disorders, and like in the middle of it, he quite literally got pissed off and turned to all of us and was like, we could end genetic disorders if people who are known carriers would just STOP HAVING KIDS! He literally yelled at us. Everyone was just kind of in shock, but he's also not that wrong. There are other ways to have children, but to know basically that you're going to bring a child into this world with severe mental and physical conditions---I have a friend now who has a daughter who cannot speak, has to have a breathing and feeding tube, and just sits in a wheelchair all day long. They have to spend all their time (not to mention insane expenses) in between the nurses, just keeping her alive because there is nothing she will ever be able to do for herself---what type of life is that?
s I strongly agree. I know I'm going to be hated after saying this but when people are thinking about having children there are a lot of things they should take into consideration. Serious inheritable disabilities is one of them. Having kids when you know they will have your disability is cruel. Not only to yourself but also to your child. They will have a life full of suffering and pain, they won't be able to enjoy their lives. Not to mention that they will dependent on their parents or whoever takes care of them until they die. Living a life like that doesn't sound worthy to me.
Who gets to decide the value of a life?
Beethoven wrote some of his most amazing music after he went deaf
I met an artist who made incredible sculptures in clay a few years ago who was born blind
I know several incredible ballet dancers with Downs Syndrome
What justifies someone telling me my life is of less value because I'm in a wheelchair? People look at me differently now I'm in a chair. They ask about how I am - but they ask the person pushing me instead of me.
Who decides if someone with inherited differences is "disabled"? Just because we have different abilities than you doesn't make us disabled. Just different. Can you travel 50 yards on one leg? Can you hear a mouse running across the floor? Can you walk across a road with your eyes closed safely?
Who are you to say I shouldn't have children because they *might* inherit a disability?
I'll trust God thanks.
Adolf Hitler and his merry band of Nazi henchmen thought that inheritable disabilities and deformities should be purged from the gene pool. Their solution: extermination... Although I agree that these "corrupted" genetics, for lack of a better phrase at 1:23 am, should be dealt with, I believe that genetic manipulation, genetic engineering, and gene therapies are the way to go. Not allowing people to reproduce is horrible, except in the case of an extinction level event, better to conserve resources then... That would be messing with the natural course of human evolution, which could have disastrous consequences farther down the road... Depending on the other genes that tend to be linked to theses undesirable traits, they could be the solution to some biological problem later, like having antibodies to a plague or be the key to reducing the size of an organ that is too big for a person.
Disagree, although I can see the logic in it.
The problem is, who determines what is a dangerous disability or how high the odds are that they shouldn't risk reproduction from it? I mean, by that logic, most human beings shouldn't be allowed to breed due to their insanely low intelligence and rarity to comprehend common sense...
So I think most humans aren't the best judges of who should be allowed to have kids and who shouldn't. I could argue 99.9% of the population should be sterilized, especially if they smoke marijuana, drink alcohol, engage in unsafe recreational sex, are partially homosexual ("bi"), or any number of "common" things everyday people do that I personally think could be harmful to society if spun the right way.
You want Brave New World? Cause that's how ya get Brave New World. And Aldous Huxley was a hack!
There are some dominant traits that can be inherited from one parent, and the odds are 50-50. There are actually parents who are aware of this, and continue to crank out kids in spite of the 50-50 odds. I don't relate to this on any level and I disagree with their choice. Especially since they know of it and are aware.
But to say that they shouldn't be allowed to reproduce? There are human rights issues there. That would mean forced sterilization. Not sure society or government should do that except in extreme cases.
At the age of 36 and the parent of two, I posed the same question to a senior faculty member in the Pathology department of UNC-Chapel Hill. I am a type one Diabetic, and belong to a family with a high incidence of high functioning autism. His answer was that not allowing those with inheritable affliction to reproduce would rob the gene pool of many trait that society appeared to cherish. He cited Van Gogh, and Beethoven. So I am 70 now and my grandchild is finishing high school next year. She will graduate with a year of college completed. Tough question.
You realize you are getting awfully close to eugenics aka NAZI doctrine, if you are in favor of this? I know that the idea was created by Dr. Francis Galton, but like Charlie Chaplin’s mustache, and the swastika, there are just some things that have SUCH a stench of Nazism now, that we just don’t go there anymore!
Strongly Disagree. How on earth is that going to be enforced? Issue everyone with an inheritable disability a personal FBI agent to force them at gunpoint to wear a condom every time they have sex? Or maybe round them all up and sterilize them by force? Even if the idea is ethically sound, there is no way to enforce it without gross violations of individual rights.
I only somewhat agree. If you know there's a high chance of your kids inheriting your disabilities, isn't it selfish and immoral to try and have kids? That being said, I also believe everyone deserves a chance at happiness and restricting people with disabilities from having kids is very unfair. But then again... the world is unfair.
It might really be better to just have a vasectomy or your tubes tied and accept not having kids and go full into finding love and a partner that will accept that and you as a person. We already have a problem with overpopulation.
My ex told me a while ago that her egg count was extremely low and she would most likely not be able to have kids. I told her I completely accept that and got used to the concept of life without having biological kids. If a normal guy without disabilities like myself can come to terms with it, then I'm sure many people can.
I have a learning disabilities and dislike this qestion very much because. This one stupid thing and I don't even want to vote or all rubbish
. some learning disabilities people can have a genic disorders that will can pass on for further gention and some leaning disabity wome want to have kids but they can't some they leaning disabity get on the way. Just because have period doesn't mean we can have a child. If I wanted a child I ask one of my sister to get one of there eggs instead of myself genic disorders that is learning disabilities. If a person has austism it make not pass on then a person can have kos if they in a long term relationship or marriage to a person that want to have kids.
It depends on the disability. My daughter is mentally disabled and after certain types of testing for living skills no she would not be able to marry, have children, etc. However she can take care of herself to a degree ✌️
No. Strongly disagree as a grand child of a man who had increasingly inheritable alzheimers. It didn't show up until his 70's how the hell are we supposed to stop that? Most people only develop cancer when they're past their 50's, how are we supposed to stop them? And not only cancer, but a big part of hereditary disabilities only show themselves when people are already past the age of having children
I mean adoption exists. I kinda think it is really dumb to have a kid if you know they could grow up to die super young to some inheirted stuff. So kinda?
But there is stuff inherited which people can live there whole life with.
So depends what it would actaully do to the kid born. And again adoption exists.
Perfectly healthy people have disabled children every day. Just like disabled people have normal and healthy children everyday. And those people take care of their children just fine. I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that no one else in my family has. My sister and I were also diagnosed with the same head issue. We have different dads and our mom does not have this illness. I swear... the questions on here man.
They should really have a great reflection, if they really want to put a kid through what they have gone through. If they want a kid can't they can adopt instead of keeping their flawed dna around. I don't believe in forced or legal restrictions on reproduction, at least on earth. If we go into space we might need to limit it.
You assume that the genetic code is a road map that allows reliable predictability. Epigenetic data show that expressed genome is affected by environment. Plus only traits are genetically linked not always expressed. You OK with sterilizing people because they Might be having children that might have a problem.
I think the only culture that made that a resounding yes answer ended at about 1945.
Voted undecided by accident, meant to click strongly disagree. It's near impossible to detect all possible serious inheritable disabilities one could pass on. This is also a means of telling people what to do and how to do it. Are you sure you're from America and not China OP?
You can also add your opinion below!
Most Helpful Opinions