http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070104/ap_on_re_us/stunted_daughter
"CHICAGO - In a case fraught with ethical questions, the parents of a severely mentally and physically disabled child have stunted her growth to keep their little "pillow angel" a manageable and more portable size.
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The bedridden 9-year-old girl had her uterus and breast tissue removed at a Seattle hospital and received large doses of hormones to halt her growth. She is now 4-foot-5; her parents say she would otherwise probably reach a normal 5-foot-6."
Here is the blog of the parents of Ashley, and their reasons for the surgery:
http://ashleytreatment.spaces.live.com/
Now here I go with my opinion regarding this story...
How much does it really help Ashley to remain small? This seems to just aid in difficulties because the parents have made it so that Ashley never will look normal. As an adult, she will still appear to be a child. Is this really for the better?
God created human beings in His image and likeness. We are supposed to respect His creations and not alter them. These parents are acting like God. I do not believe that they have the right to stop Ashley's growth, remove her breast buds and, sterilize her.
How can this really be a 2006 medical procedure? It's sterilization, for goodness sake!!! The doctors say that he condition is so bad that she'll never have a hope for reproduction, so it isn't considered sterilization. Well, she now has absolutely 0% of reproduction. This seems like sterilization to me. And I didn't think sterilization was permitted in the 21st century.
The parents seem to have no hope for their child. They think that she's stuck in the place she's currently at forever. But miracles happen. Who knows what Ashley's future may hold. But now it definitely does not hold the potential of growth, puberty, or reproduction. I think that Ashley's parents are hindering her more than helping her. She is now doomed to never have even a partially normal life because she will be stuck in the place of a 9-year old forever. This does not seem to be a good decision to me.
She has been at the same level of cognitive and mental developmental ability since about three months of age.
Not to sound like a heartless person, or deny the chance of fate intervening but, when an individual like Ashley is presented with an anomaly like that, and the brain development is stunted by reasons that not only confound doctors or any potential chance of growth, the age old saying exists - it is the parent's decision what they feel is best.
Also if you note in the support of others who have visited the site towards the end--as well as the parent's own personal remarks--the grace of God is on their side. They're not playing God, nor are they acknowledging such an idea.
I genuinely feel horrible when someone's life is plagued by an ailment or debilitating malady such as this but again, the parents, and research, personal records of other caregivers (Which also my boyfriend is in an Alzheimer's Care Residence. I am rather familiar with the trials and tribulations of tending to people.) it alleviates the discomfort a person may be faced with, and those who care for the individual have an 'easier' time to care for the person. They are there to help, they chose to be the Good Samaritan and tend to those in need on a daily basis who cannot do it for themselves. That alone, I think God would smile upon showing faith and love amongst mankind, rather than splitting hairs, or doing the injustice of possible accusatory remarks that the parents are trying to play the role of the lord.
- Stitch
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If insanity was defined by logical people, there is an imbalance of reason. Who is to explain the logistics of the sane if their reasonings are not infact insane to others?
If you would have bothered to read the parent's blog, you might understand why they did it. I'm a religious person, but what God made in his image VS what is really going on should be taken into more consideration. If there is a 100% chance she wont ever have kids, then there is no harm done, they brought up good points, they don't want their child in pain. Would you do the same to your child? Would you say "hey, we know she wont have children, we are certain about that, it'd be in the best interest for her to take it out, she wont have her period, she wont be in pain" Or would you sit back and say "yeh go ahead, let her bleed, let her be in pain, we don't care, she can't tell us, so if we don't know, we don't care" Cause that's awefully cruel. Sorry to say, but her being sterile isn't such a concern when they are trying to help their child live as painlessly as possible.
And I don't know if you are aware or not, but no matter what your body looks like, your mind determines how old you are. If some wonder did happen, and say she was in her 20's and began to talk and walk and such, that's her mind, in her mind she will be older, she will have come a long way. I'm sorry, but you do what's best for your child, you think about NOW, you don't let a child suffer just so you can hope something will come years down the road. You have to stay hopeful, but you also can not let someone suffer, that's the cruelest thing you could do. If she over comes this, they didn't do perminant damage to her, she'd be able to walk, talk, think, act, everything, she'd just be lacking breasts and the ability to have children. It's not like they cut off her limbs.
You have to think rationally, her parents did, they talked to doctors. People are smart enough, specially when it comes to children, to say "No, we wont do this" "We can't do this" or "This might be a good idea, which will help your child"
This is a tough one.
First, leaving God out of it, the parents seem to only be doing what they genuinely feel is the right thing to do. After reading the article and their blog site, I don't get the feeling at all that they went through this procedure simply for convenience to them. The concerns they raised and subsequently addressed were valid concerns. In a way, I think that Ashley is somewhat lucky that she had parents that tried to combat these potential problems and discomforts before they became real problems.
And secondly (now bringing God back into it) we really don't know how they came up with these decisions. They claim it was an easy decision to make, but I wonder how accurate that really is? Perhaps they spent weeks praying, or talking with several specialists, friends, family, or even support groups? We really don't know. My guess is that these procedures were suggested to them when they were looking for answers to these types of problems. And more than likely these decisions came from a realization that the doctors simply cannot do anything more for Ashley; something that they probably had a hard time accepting to begin with.
But, I can see why others might view this as an attempt to play God. The problem is, they might have gotten this message from God (relying on that logic). I mean, okay... You talk to God all the time, yes? And he tells you how to live and has shown you what to do, in your eyes... right? Even though there are people that disagree with how you portray yourself at times (both Christians and Non Christians) you feel that you are doing your best to live a life that God would appreciate. Right? Perhaps they are only doing the same thing?
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"Dream as though you'll live forever, but live as though there's no tomorrow" --James Dean
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