November 20, 2017 - 11:51
After reading the article about designing deaf babies, I am curious other people’s opinions on the controversy and whether or not they are as awestruck as the public who was seemed to be outraged by this public statement to engineer a baby by picking a donor with a disability. Also, I understand the desire for a couple to desire a child that is similar to them because it can be scary to raise a child that is completely different from you and fearing that you won’t understand them. In this case, the parents have the argument to desire a child that is similar to them in this way, but my question is that if they want their child to be deaf so badly, why don’t they just adopt a child who is already deaf and in need of a home or just take their chances with having a biological child? No matter what, there are always chances and unknown variables when having a child, so if a disability is something important to the parents, maybe they should look into adoption because they know all the child’s traits before they adopt it.
I am also still kind of curious about cochlear implants because the woman in one of the videos posted got her cochlear implant at age 20, so I’m curious if her hearing is still somewhat blurred, or if she can hear as clearly or nearly as clearly as a fully hearing person. Also, it’d be interesting to discuss with the class what other students think they would do if they had a deaf baby; would you impose a cochlear implant, wait, or accept the deaf community and leave them in the full natural way they were born?