Fridays are an absolute “free for all” on Breakfast Television – we open up our email lines and ask you, our viewers, to rant, rave, praise, vent or even ask questions. No topic is out of bounds, every issue is fair game – it’s our chance to let you take the floor and share what’s on your mind.
A lot of you had something to say about the 60-year-old woman in Calgary who just gave birth to twins thanks to help from doctors at a fertility clinic in India. She and her husband had tried for years to conceive, with previous visits to both Canadian and Indian fertility clinics proving unsuccessful. Her latest (successful) visit to an Indian clinic followed a refusal from Canadian specialists to make any further attempts based on her age.
BT viewer Katharina Riedyk sent us a message at www.breakfasttelevision.ca, writing, “Although it’s wonderful for her to be able to have babies, I don’t think that it is morally right. Her kids are going to be in their teens when she is in her 70’s. Mother Nature gave us biological clocks and hers went off a long time ago.”
Viewer Cheryl Gelinas wrote, “The strange cases of the 60 year old mother of twins in Calgary and the 33 year old California mom of octuplets are the latest examples of a society in which the unusual is glorified and plastered all over the internet, television and tabloids…This includes Hollywood couples who adopt or give birth to children and immediately hold bidding wars for the rights to photograph the new additions…Unfortunately, as long as these shows remain popular and have the support of major advertisers, we’ll be seeing other families with dollar signs in their eyes as they strive to achieve huge litters of children for a shot at stardom.”
Tracey Ewasiuk wrote, “I’m very disturbed at the 60 year old woman having children. I can understand the desire, but these types of people are being very selfish! They are fulfilling their own desires without any thought for the children. How can they keep up with 10 year old boys when they are 70? How do they deal with teenages when they’re pushing 80? These young men are going to have to be caregivers for their parents.”
Our unofficial survey results show 0% of you supporting the right of a 60 year old to pursue medical assistance to conceive and bear a child. Why is this? Is it because everybody believes humans lose all capability to rear children at 60? Probably not. Is it because every single viewer is against maximizing the potential of medical technology? I doubt it. My guess is, this comes down (as it often does in hot-button reproductive issues) to the rights of the child. It’s one thing to be at an advanced age when your child grows up. It’s an entirely other thing to (potentially) be unable to look after yourself before your child reaches the legal age of 18.
None of us will ever be able to truly understand the thoughts and desires of this new mother in Calgary. We do know she tried for decades to have a child with her husband. They didn’t let unsuccessful treatments, doctors’ growing reluctance or even an alleged financial “scam” at an Indian fertility clinic deter their dreams of parenthood. Is it fair, then, to criticize the means this couple pursued to conceive?
Had the couple conceived naturally, my answer would be a resounding “no.” Who are we to limit a woman still able to bear a child through the natural process? The obvious issue here (along with the California mother of 14 including new octuplets) is the use of medical technology/procedures to help those to whom nature has already given an answer.
Should doctors, especially fertility experts, limit their services based on individual circumstance (including age)? Absolutely. In this case, that’s exactly what Canadian doctors did. This begs a second question: should there be a world-wide mandate to limit certain services based on a common medical moral code? To that, I say “good luck.” Canadians have been stepping outside our own borders for years to attain otherwise-unavailable medical treatment, from abortions to cancer treatment to open heart surgery. The controversy surrounding this mindset will only swirl stronger after this most recent case.
The rights of a mother to conceive and experience the joy of parenting, the rights of a child to experience a positive environment in which to develop and grow, and the rights of a society to protect its health care system and social services are all part of this discussion. In all reality, we will see more and more of these cases as medical capabilities continue to advance. It’s unreasonable for us as Canadians to expect other countries to accept our medical moral convictions. It’s also important to realize we can never fully understand what drives an individuals’ decision to pursue unconventional or controversial medical treatment unless we’re in their idential situation. It’s crucial that Canadians come to a common understanding of what is acceptable within our own borders – in all reality, situations like this will continue to occur so long as international clinics allow them. Safe to say the debate will continue as well.
rpj.
