Lesson 10: Babies and Technology

Wow! I feel like this has been a really fast course on development. As I said in an earlier lesson, it could take a whole book for any one section of this course.

In this last lesson, I am going to cover several areas. We will be talking about the ethics of birthing options that are available, assuring good childcare, and some suggested reading on parenting and children.

With the advances in technology, we are doing things with genetics and childbirth that were once the stuff of fairy tales. We are able to diagnose disease in preborn babies, do surgeries on fetuses, save and freeze embryos, eggs, and sperm, implant our sperm and eggs into other people and have surrogate parents. With these seeming miracles comes a whole set of unforeseen legal and ethical questions that don't seem to have answers until someone is caught in the throes of the dilemma. There is no way to cover all of the areas I am speaking about, but what we do talk about will, I hope, encourage you to think about these issues. Regardless of the ability we have to manipulate nature, we are responsible for looking at each part as to the effect it will have on the very real people involved, including the child who has no choice. Let's look at a few of these choices.

Cloning

There has been much talk lately about the idea of cloning people. Some say they want it to provide organs for victims of disease. Others feel it would be a way to have children when fertility is a problem. There are many other reasons cited, especially since the success with cloning animals. The United States has banned work on the cloning of humans, as have several other countries. One scientist who did work with the experiment of cloning "Dolly" the sheep said that they had thrown out over 200 deformed embryos before getting the one that worked. How willing are we to try that on babies? Everyone has to make their own informed conclusion to this question.

Cloning Information

Surrogate Parents

It has become almost common for couples who are unable to have their own children to have someone else have a child. Sometimes the woman's egg is used, sometimes the man's sperm. Regardless of the method used, there are many women who have known the joy of childbearing and raising children who are willing to have a child for someone else. While this is a wonderful blessing for the childless couple, there have been some unforeseen legal problems. I recently read about a couple whose surrogate was pregnant with twins. They had only wanted one child, so they told the surrogate she either had to abort one baby or keep one. Neither was acceptable to the surrogate mother,and, as far as I know, they are still in court. In the meantime, what about the children? There have been cases where the surrogate fell in love with the child she carried and didn't want to give the babe to the couple after all.

There have been many wonderful outcomes; mothers having children for their barren daughters and other couples having the babies they have only dreamed of. But the questions that surround the procedure are still surfacing.

Surrogate Parenting Information

Fertility Drugs

The success of these treatments has been extraordinary, and there are many happy couples who now have babies where once there was no chance. There is also the possibility of having multiple births with some of the babies suffering defects, learning disabilities, and even dying. There are many Web sites dealing with this issue; some we will be looking at more closely.

One site I found seems to have quite a bit of information.

Infertility Information

Stem Cell Transplants

This controversy has been brought to the forefront recently because of the belief that stem cell technology can help people with spinal cord injuries, among other things. There is a very informative link, but please look into some of the issues surrounding the harvesting of stem cells from babies. There has been some controversy about this in the media recently.

Bone Marrow Transplant Information

Medical Testing of Preborns

There are tests that can predict if a child is going to have Downs Syndrome, heart problems, and other difficulties. There was a case where a doctor did open heart surgery on a tiny fetus. The baby was born healthy. What a wonder! While these tests can save lives, there are cases where people decide that they don't want what they consider a defective baby and have abortions. Therefore, the ability to predict the health of a preborn baby has opened up not only avenues for life, but avenues for conflict.

Genetic Testing Information

How Do We Know What Is Right?

There is no way that anyone can tell someone else how to feel about the subjects, and other facets of the same area, that I have brought up. But one day we are going to be asked to vote or speak out about these sensitive issues. If we do not make a point of being informed and making our own decisions, then we leave ourselves open to having the decisions made for us; and we may not like the outcome.

Assignment

1) Discussion - How do you feel about the impact of technology on genetics and childbirth? Should technology be used? If so, when? If not, why not? Be sure to look at other students' offerings and comment. You might look at the discussion on Birth Choices in Chapter 4, and talk about how this fits in with some of the new options for pregnancy.

Join the discussion on Babies and Technology.

2) Choose one of the topics above that particularly interests you. Use the Web sites listed here as well as additional resources that you can locate to fully research the topic. I was purposely brief in hopes that you would read the information and draw your own conclusions.

Fertility Treatments At-A-Glance

Surrogacy

In a 750-word essay, explain the procedure, the results of what has been done so far, and your feelings, whether pro or con, about the issue. If you use articles in your essay, please give credit to the author, Web site, or magazine. Using Internet information without giving credit to the author is plagarism. If you are quoting, please give publication, date of publication, and author.

For help with citing your sources, go to Citing Sources. The site has an interactive Citation Maker which you can use to list your sources, then download or copy and paste them into your paper.

Submit your essay here.

Final Assignment

Pretend you are a child care provider. A young couple is thinking about placing their (0-2 year old) child in your care and want some information about your business. They ask you the 15 questions that you created in Lesson 6.

Select an age group that we have studied and respond to those questions with that age group in mind. For example, my answers would be very different if I was answering the questions with a 2-month old in mind versus a 2-year old. Make sure your answers are appropriate for the age group you selected. Remember to answer all 15 questions fully. You may use research materials such as Internet resources, books, magazines, or conduct interviews of parents/child care providers. Be sure to save a copy of your work.

Submit your final assignment here.

Course Summary

Well, I hope that you have learned something in all of this. There is so much of understanding children that comes from experience and who you are. You can read every book and take every class, but until you have had the incredible experience of being around a child, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend all that is in this course. But, as I have said before, I do believe that if we took the time to study and learn all that we can before we become parents, there would be many more well-adjusted children, and potential parents would be better prepared to deal with the challenges of parenting.

I appreciate the fact that you have put in the effort and taken the time to work hard on this course. It shows you have a heart to make a positive difference in someone else's life.